One True Team: Forever
by Zero2-the-scyther
Summary: When the second Teams Pairs Championships occur, the Bladebreakers and the Wildcats are once again reunited to create one unstoppable team.Can they win this championship and claim their titles once again?Sequel 2 One True Team
1. The Reunion

One True Team: Forever  
  
YOWZA!!! Hey people!!! Yup, this is Zero2-the-scyther!!! Because of popular demand, I finally decided to write a sequel for the original story "One True Team". I did not think I would write a sequel, but hey, why not give it a try! So please enjoy this chapter of this story and give some honest reviews!!!!  
  
p.s. I have never written a sequel to ANYTHING I have ever written, so I'm sorry if it's not as good as the first story! Thanks!  
  
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Riiiiii-ng! Riiiiii-ng! Riiiiii-ng! Riiiiii-ng!  
  
"Oh man!" There was a loud thud, and then the alarm clock stopped ringing. Tyson yawned loudly as he stretched out. His dark blue hair gleamed from the sunlight that shone through his bedroom window. Rubbing his eyes, he stared blankly at the alarm clock. "OH NO!!!!! It's already 8!?" Jumping off the bed, Tyson rushed into the bathroom and started brushing his teeth. 15 minutes later, he had jammed on his red baseball cap, slipped on his yellow shirt and red vest, and was adjusting the belt to his pants when Grandpa appeared at the door to his room.  
  
"Yo dude, whatcha doing?" he asked.  
  
"Grandpa, why are YOU still here?" Tyson yelled as he dumped all his school books into his backpack. "I'm going to be late for school again!"  
  
"Huh? School?"  
  
"Have you been drinking or something? It's already 8:20!!" Tyson yelled behind his shoulder as he barged past Grandpa.  
  
"Tyson! Today is Saturday!"  
  
"Oh crap! I still need to finish up that science project! Grandpa, is today the 15th? Oh great! I have a trig test on the 17th!! And – what?!" Tyson stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face his grandpa, who was shaking his head.  
  
"Did you say today is Saturday!???" Tyson's jaw dropped down. His grandpa nodded. Grumbling, Tyson walked past his grandpa, dumped his bag on to the floor and climbed right back into bed.  
  
"Just look at you! You're so tensed up about school work that you don't even know what day it is today!"  
  
"Quiet Grandpa! Can't you let a man sleep for a few hours more?"  
  
Sighing, Grandpa walked outside to retrieve the mail. It was only a few minutes later did Tyson once again, got disturbed from his sleep.  
  
"This letter is for you," Grandpa said, dumping the white envelope in front of his grandson's face. Tyson didn't pay any attention to it, until he saw the letters "BBA" on the front.  
  
Tearing the letter open, Tyson found out that it was from Mr. Dickinson.  
  
Dear Tyson,  
  
How are you doing? It is my pleasure to invite you to and the Bladebreakers to participate in yet another beyblade competition: The Senior Team Pairs Championships.  
  
You may have remembered the first time you had participated in this event two years ago, but we have now divided this event for both the children and the teenagers. Therefore, you are now in the senior division. I have invited the rest of the Bladebreakers to join this event, which only occurs every 2 years.  
  
Along with this letter is an airplane ticket, as part of the BBA's appreciation for participating. The plane will leave for Russia in 5 days. You may send an email to me if you have any questions or if you are unable to attend this event.  
  
I hope to see you soon!  
  
Signed, Mr. Dickinson  
  
"ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Tyson jumped off his bed with a whoop. "NO SCHOOL!"  
  
Just then the phone rang. Picking it up, Tyson grinned with delight when he recognized it as Max's voice.  
  
"Hey Tyson! Did you receive a letter from Mr. Dickinson?"  
  
"Yep. I sure did! Are you going to Russia?"  
  
"Are you kidding? I'm not missing it for the world!"  
  
"Guess we've got to start training."  
  
"Oh yeah. Hey! Maybe we'll be teamed up with the Wildcats again!"  
  
"Oh yeah!"  
  
"I can't wait to see Terri! We haven't seen each other for 2 years! I can't imagine how she looks now, since she's 17 now."  
  
"I bet Lexis might still look like her old self. Say, did Kai, Ray, and Kenny get a letter too?"  
  
"Kenny's over at my hobby shop right now, fixing Draciel. He says that he got a letter too. He just talked to Ray online a few moments ago and Ray's got a letter too."  
  
"Then I'll bet Kai got a letter as well."  
  
"Well, I better start packing. So I'll talk to you later, Tyson!"  
  
"Same here! But wait till we get together again! We'll really LET IT RIP!!"  
  
"Oh YEAH!!"  
  
"See you soon."  
  
"Bye." Hanging up, Tyson ran back into his room and found the picture they had taken two years ago in Russia. It was a group photo of them, before they had to go back to Japan. He smiled when he looked at Lexis' smile.  
  
I can't wait to see her again, he thought.  
  
Reaching under his bed, Tyson began to pack his suitcase, wondering what to bring for his snacks for the trip.  
  
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At the Russian Airport, Tyson smiled when the airplane door opened and spilled out its passengers.  
  
"OH YEAH!! We're back, Moscow!!!" Behind him, Max, Kenny, and Kai stood with their hand held luggage in their hands. Max, being 17, had grown a bit taller than Tyson by just a cm. He still had that heart shaped chain Terri had given to him just before they left. Kai, now 18, had finally gotten his driver's license. He still had a white scarf around his neck but took off the blue streaks from his face. He decided that he would only put the streaks back on his face when they began the tournament. Kenny, just like Max and Tyson, was a super intelligent 17 year old teen. He had passed all his courses at school with high achievements and was still the number one computer whiz. He was still the shortest though.  
  
As the 4 guys got their luggage from the luggage department, they met up with Ray.  
  
"Hey Ray!" Tyson yelled when he caught sight of the Chinese boy. Ray turned around, and ran towards them, smiling. He was now 18, but still had on his white Chinese clothes and black pants/shoes. The Ying-Yang symbol on his headband gleamed as he neared his friends.  
  
"How's life in China?" asked Max.  
  
"Okay. You guys?"  
  
"We're great," Kenny answered. Kai simply nodded towards Ray, who nodded back in greeting. They were almost the same height, but Kai was still taller.  
  
"So are we supposed to wait here for Mr. D?" asked Tyson.  
  
"Guess so. Do you think we'll see the Wildcats?" asked Kenny.  
  
"I don't know. I haven't talked to Saber since a month ago. She didn't go online and her phone line was always busy," Ray said, scratching his head.  
  
The Bladebreakers walked away from the baggage department and sat down on some chairs.  
  
"I can't wait to start blading again," Max said. "It's been so long since I've bladed with the entire Bladebreakers team ever since you went back to China, Ray."  
  
"You got that right," Ray agreed.  
  
"We'll finally be rid of high school for a little while and can spend all our time focusing on beyblading," Tyson pointed out.  
  
"It will be a good time for us to polish up our skills," Kai murmured under his breath.  
  
All of a sudden, Kenny's cell phone rang. Walking away from the group, Kenny flipped it open and began to talk into it.  
  
"Are we supposed to wait for Mr. Dickinson?" Max asked.  
  
"I guess so," Ray said. "But when is he going to pick us up?"  
  
"Well, when he DOES come, you can tell him that I went to the food court area to get some lunch," Tyson said, as he got up and walked away from the group towards the direction of the food court.  
  
Sighing, Max and Ray leaned back in their seats while Kai crossed his arms across his chest.  
  
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"Mmm!" Tyson bit into his cheeseburger with delight as he walked away from the food court. "I forgot how much better cheeseburgers tasted in Russia!"  
  
Suddenly, a running business man ran towards him and knocked his cap right off his head as he ran down the aisle. Tyson watched his cap fly off and landed on the floor a few meters ahead, where some people walked by.  
  
Running towards his fallen cap, Tyson was about to reach for it when he noticed a girl bent down and pick it up for him.  
  
"Gee, thanks," he said, reaching for his cap. Then he froze as the girl stood up, her face frozen in a state of surprise. They stared into each others eyes.  
  
Her eyes are navy blue, Tyson thought. Let's see . . . . . brown hair past shoulder length, navy blue eyes. . . . Wait a minute! Tyson studied the girl closely, who stood still as she watched him examine her closely.  
  
"L-lexis? Is that you?"  
  
"T-Tyson?!"  
  
Lexis just stood still, trembling with excitement and disbelief.  
  
"Lexis!" Tyson ran forward and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Lexis turned slightly pink.  
  
"T-Tyson!" she managed to say, embarrassed that he was hugging her while everyone else was staring at them. "What are you doing h-here?"  
  
"Lexis! It's so good to see you again. I missed you so much," Tyson continued on. "Did you notice that it's been 2 years since we've seen each other?!"  
  
"I . . . . . I . . . ." Reluctantly, Lexis put an arm around Tyson's back. "I missed you too."  
  
Somehow, I feel so much safer near Tyson's presence, Lexis thought. I never would have guessed I missed him this much until I saw him with my own two eyes.  
  
Finally, the two separated and stared at each other.  
  
"Are you here because Mr. Dickinson invited you to the Senior Teams Pairs Championships as well?" asked Tyson. Lexis nodded. She was dressed in a dark green T-shirt with a dark blue jean jacket over it. She also wore a pair of dark blue jeans and brown shoes.  
  
She didn't change much, Tyson thought. She looks almost exactly the same as the last time I saw her, only a bit older. But there IS something different from her. Why does she seem so sad? She seems to be distracted or maybe it's just because she has school to worry about or something. Anyhow, Lexis IS back!!  
  
"Where are Terri, Saber and Solo?" Tyson asked.  
  
"I think they're still waiting for their luggage, but I'm not sure," Lexis answered, looking around. "But I already got my luggage, so why don't we find the rest of the Bladebreakers?"  
  
"Let's go! I can't wait till we battle again!" Tyson said, grabbing Lexis' luggage and one of her arms. Lexis smiled and followed him.  
  
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Ray stood up from his seat and stretched. "How much longer do we have to wait?" he asked, almost out of patience. "We've been sitting here for nearly an hour now!"  
  
"Mr. Dickinson said that he'll be a little bit late," Kenny replied. "His meeting with the BBA had somehow delayed and he told us to stay in the airport until he gets there."  
  
"Well I'm starting to get bored," Ray said.  
  
"Same here," Max agreed.  
  
"Where the heck did Tyson go to now?" asked Kenny.  
  
"Oops!" Ray had accidentally knocked into a person while he paced backwards. Turning around to apologize, Ray stared at the person, tongue- tied.  
  
"Well, what do you know? I didn't think I would ever see you this soon!" the person said.  
  
"Saber?!" Grinning, Saber flashed him a 100 watt smile. She was dressed in a black sports jacket with a black collared T-shirt and black sports pants. Her black cap rested on top of her chestnut brown hair, her spiky bangs slightly covering her forehead. Her braid was still down to her back and yes, she was still grinning. She had grown taller and was half a head shorter than Ray.  
  
"Ray, I'm sorry I couldn't go online! My computer got infected by a virus and my phone's been down. But anyhow, we haven't seen each other for 2 years now!"  
  
"Come here," Ray laughed, as he gave Saber a hug. Max watched as the two broke apart.  
  
"Hey Max, Kenny, and Kai!" Saber smiled, waving. Max laughed and waved back. Kenny waved also while Kai smirked.  
  
As Ray carried Saber's black luggage, Max asked, "Where's Terri, Solo, and Lexis?"  
  
"Huh? You mean they're not here yet?" Saber scratched her head. "Well, I guess we kind of got separated while waiting for the luggage or when we were in the security check in. They should be here soon."  
  
"Remember that promise I made to you?" Ray asked. "I'm still keeping it." Saber smiled mischievously and winked.  
  
"Yo SABER!" Turning around, Saber spotted Terri and Solo, who were marching across the airport to where they were, lugging their baggage. Terri's face seemed to be filled with frustration while Solo looked annoyed. Saber lifted up an eyebrow.  
  
"It's about time you got through with your luggage," Saber said.  
  
"Well, thanks a lot for ditching us! We were searching for you in the baggage department for 15 minutes! Didn't I tell you to wait for us?" Terri's eyes narrowed, then it went past the now embarrassed Saber and spotted Max.  
  
"Max?" she said, a look of surprise now covering the frustration on her face.  
  
"Terri!" Running towards her, Max laughed as Terri laughed and gave him a hug.  
  
"You're so tall now," Terri replied, when she finished hugging him. She had on a blue collared shirt and black jeans.  
  
"I'm still not the tallest yet, though," Max laughed. Solo turned her head and saw Kai, who had gotten to his feet. Walking away from Max and Terri, she walked towards him.  
  
Kai, who also started to walk towards her, could feel a sudden blush run through his face.  
  
"Hey," he said when Solo had stopped right in front of him. It was also the first word he had spoken all day.  
  
"How're you doing?" Solo asked. She seemed nervous.  
  
"Okay. You?"  
  
"I'm good." They stopped in silence, but couldn't stop staring at each other. Kai's eyes searched through Solo's black ones. The red highlights in her hair ran down her slick black ponytail. She had on a black long sleeved shirt with a black sports vest over it. She also wore black pants. Kai noticed that she was wearing the necklace he had given to her on their last dance. The red firebird shone brightly against the light and gleamed broadly.  
  
Finally, not wanting the suspense to last any longer, Kai reached out and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Solo rested her head against his shoulder.  
  
I never thought that I'll be able to hug him like this so soon again, she thought.  
  
They broke apart once Tyson and Lexis arrived a few seconds later.  
  
"HEY GUYS! GUESS WHO I FOUND? Uh. . . . what?! Everyone's already here?" Tyson gaped at the rest of the Wildcats and Bladebreakers.  
  
"Guess we're back again!" Saber piped up.  
  
"Hello there, boys and girls!" It was Mr. Dickinson. He had finally arrived at the airport. "I'm sorry that there was a delay in my meeting. I guess that you two teams have found each other in the airport. I didn't want to mention that I was going to invite both of you to be on the same team again so I could surprise you."  
  
"So we ARE going to battle again together," Max said.  
  
"Oh yes. And the tournament begins in 9 days. You should have enough time to train and practice your skills."  
  
"Oh yeah!" Saber grinned.  
  
"Hopefully, we'll be able to actually have fun instead of always saving the world or something like what happened last time," Ray replied.  
  
"Yeah," Lexis agreed.  
  
"Then what are we waiting for?" Tyson exclaimed. "Let's go! We're going to reclaim our titles and win this tournament again! So LET IT RIP!"  
  
"YEAH!" everyone else cheered.  
  
And so, the Bladebreakers and the Wildcats finally left the airport and onto the bus to their hotel.  
  
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Was that too boring? Sorry if it was! Oh well! Please review and give me some ideas/advise about this story! REVIEW!!!!! :D  
  
~Zero2-the-scyther 


	2. Warming up

One True Team: Forever  
  
I'm sorry if I update so late! I'm trying to work on my updating time! ' I would like to thank you those who have reviewed my first chapter! Please enjoy and review!  
  
Just like last time, the Bladebreakers and the Wildcats shared the same hotel room. The hotel room was extra big, with a 'living room' or common room in the center, and a boys' room and girls' room, both with washrooms inside. The hotel was also the same hotel they had stayed at when they had first joined up for the first Teams Pairs Championships.  
  
Unlocking the door, Kenny turned the door handle and everyone stepped into the room with their baggage.  
  
"Wow," Terri said. "It's even bigger than the room we had last time."  
  
"Look! They even have a large cable T.V.," Saber observed, pointing to the large television in the center.  
  
Everyone kicked off their shoes and lugged their luggage after them.  
  
"Let's check out our room," Tyson grinned as he opened the door to the boys' room. Inside were five neatly made beds, with a large closet and a dresser right next to it. A desk was set in a corner of the room next to the washroom. Kai and Ray immediately picked their beds while Max and Tyson dumped their luggage onto one side of the room. Kenny set down his precious laptop onto the desk and chose his bed as well.  
  
In the end, Kai and Ray unpacked their luggage on their beds, which were next to the wall. Max and Tyson's beds were on the other side of the room, and Kenny's bed was right beside the bathroom.  
  
Over on the girls' room, Saber and Solo had their beds right against the wall, with Saber's bed closest to the window and Solo's right next to the bathroom. Terri and Lexis' beds were across from Saber and Solo's.  
  
All of them had changed their clothes. Lexis was now wearing her loose dark green sleeveless shirt, with black sports capris. Terri had on a dark blue elbow long shirt and loose black pants. Saber was wearing a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and black sports pants. Solo was wearing a sleeveless black shirt with a high collar and black baggy jeans with a black belt around.  
  


Saber was currently fixing up her black beyblade, trying on different attack rings and trying to work out the balance. Terri was in the bathroom. Solo had placed her suitcase right beside her bag after she had unpacked and was polishing her beyblade with a piece of cloth. Lexis, however, was lying on top of her bed, sighing.  
  
What should I do? she thought. If I choose either way, then I'll still be miserable.  
  
"Shouldn't we start practicing?" Terri asked as she stepped out of the bathroom.  
  
"Uh. . ." Lexis quickly sat up. "Yeah, I guess so." Taking out Jaguarah from her bag, Lexis quickly stuffed the orange beyblade into her pocket. Everyone followed her out the door.  
  
The Bladebreakers were already in the common room, watching T.V. while Tyson was drinking a can of coke. Everyone had changed out of their casual clothes and was in their usual beyblade battle clothes (for the Bladebreakers, it's the same clothes we see them wear throughout the entire series on T.V.). The blue streaks were back on Kai's face.  
  
"Do you suggest we go and warm up a bit just before dinner?" Kenny asked.  
  
"Sure. Why not?" Lexis murmured.  
  
She certainly doesn't seem to be very enthusiastic about it, Kai thought in his mind.  
  
With that, the Bladebreakers and the Wildcats went on the elevator and down to the bottom floor where the beyblade training facilities were.  
  
Flinging open the door, Tyson stepped into the empty room and turned on the lights. Inside the room were a couple of well polished beyblade battle dishes.  
  
"Alright! Let's get started," Max said as he and Terri walked over to a dish.  
  
"You've got it," Saber replied as she and Ray headed to the dish that was to the right of the room. Even Kai and Solo headed towards the farthest dish in the room, but Lexis just simply stood still when Tyson walked towards a dish.  
  
"You ready to go, Lexis?" Tyson asked her, noticing that she hadn't moved at all. Lexis looked up to him and sighed. Hesitantly, she walked over to where Tyson was and stood on the opposite side of him.  
  
"Yeah." Taking out her orange beyblade, Lexis got into battle position. The chief stood in between them.  
  
"3. . . . .2. . . . . 1. . . . Let it Rip!" Kenny yelled.  
  
"Let it rip!" Tyson released his Dragoon and it landed into the battle dish. Lexis also released her Jaguarah, but within 5 seconds, Dragoon had smashed it out of the dish. Lexis gasped when she saw her beyblade fly right past her head. Tyson looked up in surprise. Kenny gasped. Everyone looked up towards the sound of a beyblade being knocked out. Jaguarah hit the wall and fell down onto the floor, making a clanging sound.  
  
Slowly, Lexis turned around and looked at her damaged beyblade.  
  
"L-lexis?" Tyson stuttered, slowly.  
  
To everyone's surprise, Lexis started to laugh. Still chuckling, she picked up her beyblade and rubbed off the dust.  
  
"I almost forgot how strong you were," Lexis said after she stopped laughing.  
  
"O-oh!" Tyson laughed. "Well, I HAVE grown stronger since the last time you've met me."  
  
"Let's go again," Lexis said. Once again they ripped their beyblades into the dish.  
  
"Panthera, let's go! Scythe Claw ATTACK!" Saber yelled. Panthera, the slick black panther, rose from its beyblade and zoomed in on Driger.  
  
"Driger! Tiger Claw Attack!" Ray shouted. Immediately, Driger countered Panthera's attack with one of its own.  
  
"Draciel. Dodge Cougarah's attack," Max cried out last minute. Just before Terri's beyblade crushed him, Draciel pulled away from Cougarah.  
  
"Darn, you've gotten a lot faster," Terri murmured, impressed.  
  
BANG!!! Dranzer and Bengalion made sparks as they collided into each other. Both Solo and Kai stood still, waiting for their bit-beasts to battle it out.  
  
Typing into his laptop, Kenny pushed up his glasses.  
  
"Wow, Chief! I've got some great news!" Dizzy exclaimed. "Looks like all of the beybladers here have amped up their power in their beyblading skills."  
  
"You're right. And another improvement is that all of the Wildcats and Bladebreakers have managed to maintain their strength in battle, so that their power does not immediately drop down."  
  
"Maintaining consistency is an important factor in beyblading, since now that they've grown older," Dizzy said.  
  
"That's true," Kenny agreed, looking at the bar stats in his laptop.  
  
"Say, Chief? Do you want us to work on our partnering skills and strategies as well?" Ray asked from across the room.  
  
"Well, for the moment, warm up a bit and try to practice your old strategies. If you remember, it's the attack strategies each pair had made up in order to defeat the opposing pair."  
  
"Huh? Oh, do you mean like the X-Claw Collision method we used?" Saber asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Oh," everyone else said aloud.  
  
"Alright then. Max, why don't you and Terri battle us?" Ray asked.  
  
"Sure, why not? Terri and I need to rehearse our DC Barrier defense- strategy." Max and Terri quickly walked over.  
  
"Let's go," Tyson said, pulling Lexis towards Kai, who wanted to stay as far away as possible from Tyson.  
  
"O-okay." Lexis stood beside Tyson as the four of them got into battle position. Solo and Kai released their beyblades as Lexis and Tyson released theirs.  
  
"Let it rip!"  
  
"Bengalion, do your stuff!" Solo shouted.  
  
"Dranzer!" Both Bengalion and Dranzer circled around the dish until Dragoon and Jaguarah were forced in the middle. Once the two were in the middle, Bengalion and Dranzer attacked by slamming straight into the two beyblades. This was Kai and Solo's original strategy when they had first become partners.  
  
"Oh no, you don't!" Tyson yelled. "Dragoon, DJ Destruction!"  
  
"Jaguarah, stay on it with Dragoon," Lexis said as Dragoon's Phantom Hurricane Attack whirled into action. The hurricane soon turned orange when Jaguarah was sucked into the wind void and was using its camouflaged ability.  
  
Even though this DJ Destruction attack was very sudden, Dranzer and Bengalion still went ahead with their attack. It weakened Dragoon's wind speed, but Dragoon still had the advantage. Pretty soon, Jaguarah leapt out of no where and struck Bengalion.  
  
"Jaguar Paw Scratch!" Lexis told her bit-beast.  
  
"Bengal Tiger Scratch!" Solo shouted back.  
  
SLASH!! Both of their attacks knocked the beyblades apart, making them unstable. Just then, Dranzer swished by, going past Dragoon's hurricane.  
  
"Dranzer, counter attack!" BANG! Jaguarah was smashed right back into Dragoon's hurricane and eventually flew up through the top and fell out. Landing on top of Bengalion as it fell, both blades stopped moving a few seconds after the impact.  
  
"Dragoon! Final attack!" Tyson exclaimed. Dranzer quickly dodged out of the way just as Dragoon rose from its beyblade and took a swipe at Dranzer with its long tail.  
  
"Dranzer, Spin Fire Attack!" Dranzer leapt out of its beyblade, soared over Dragoon and nose dived right at it. A bright light shone from the collision and Dragoon was knocked down while Dranzer spun wobbly.  
  
"Well, guess the match goes to you again, Kai," Tyson said, shrugging his shoulders, as he picked up his beyblade.  
  
"At least we were able to do the DJ Destruction without practicing it for a long time," Lexis replied.  
  
"Well, that's true," Tyson agreed. "Guess we'll have to work on our skills and partnership, not including new strategies." Lexis nodded as she turned over to see Saber and Ray, who were battling against Max and Terri. The four of them were calling out their attacks, but at the same time, they seemed to be having lots of fun.  
  
"Panthera! Scythe Claw Attack!" Cougarah was knocked into Draciel, who were then swept out of the battle dish by Driger.  
  
"Aw right!" Saber and Ray slapped high-fives. Max and Terri simply smiled at each other.  
  
"We'll have to do better next time and think of new strategies. Our old strategy might not be enough to hold of our opponents," Terri discussed with Max, who nodded.  
  
Ring ring! Ring ring! Kenny flipped open his cell phone.  
  
"Hello? Oh yes. . . . . . . . . . .Okay. See you there sir." Snapping his phone shut, Kenny turned to his friends.  
  
"Mr. Dickinson wants us to go join him for dinner upstairs in the hotel café," he said. Everyone followed him out the door to the elevator, talking amongst themselves.  
  
Lexis just sighed as Tyson babbled on about his life at school. Tyson stopped talking when he noticed that Lexis was not paying attention to him.  
  
"What's wrong? You don't seem very happy," he told her. Lexis looked at him weirdly.  
  
"Huh? Oh. Nothing's wrong," she said. "Sorry, I'm just not. . . . . it's probably jet lag. It's been really hard for me to think clearly these days. I'm sorry."  
  
"No, it's okay," Tyson said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Lexis' body tightened at first, then relaxed slowly as they continued to walk.  
  
I'll think about this later, Lexis thought. Right now, all I should think about is winning the tournament and being with Tyson.  
  
For the first time that week, Lexis smiled.

  
  
I'm sorry if that chapter was kind of boring! I would like to thank you everyone who has reviewed this story!  
  
I'll try to update sooner! Thanks for reading!  
  
p.s. I will try to put in more Solo/Kai moments, okay? Thanks!  
  
Zero2-the-scyther 


	3. Did I change that much?

> One True Team: Forever  
  
--Sorry I updated so late (again. . . . .)! I hope u enjoy reading this chapter. Please review after!  
  
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Lexis sighed as she walked with Tyson down the hallway. During dinner, Mr. Dickinson had discussed the rules in the senior division of the Teams Pairs Championships. It was exactly the same as the rules in the junior division, but the judges and chair man looked more closely for dangerous weapons, cheating tools, and inappropriate actions/language. That meant that beyblades would be looked at more carefully for dangerous weapons, illegal tools, and beybladers themselves were not allowed to trash talk inappropriately to each other.
> 
> "We are hoping that nothing like what happened last time would occur this time as well," Mr. Dickinson had concluded. All of the Bladebreakers and Wildcats had nodded in agreement.  
  
After dinner, they were allowed to have some free time to catch up on each other's lives and spend some time together.
> 
> Obviously, everyone decided to break off into pairs and talk about their lives in the past 2 years.  
  
Ray and Saber had decided to check out the hotel stores and facilities while Terri and Max headed for the street outside of their hotel and decided to hang out in the streets of Russia.  
  
Solo and Kai had already left the hotel to go to a park nearby and as for Tyson and Lexis, they walked along the lobby of the hotel.  
  
Kenny however, spent his time surfing on the Internet and looked up the profiles of all the beyblade teams in the senior division.  
  
"Wow," Saber said, as she walked through the hotel's arcade room. "Look at that! I played that game last time."  
  
Ray simply smiled as Saber went on and on about the arcade games. He actually didn't mind her talking about them.  
  
"So. . . ." Ray began as they stepped out of the arcade room. "Give any thought to what you want to be when you grow older?"  
  
"Sort of. But I'm not sure yet. I'm stuck between deciding if I should be a mechanic/engineer or a business woman," Saber said, scratching her head with her hand. "It really depends on how good my marks are. What about you?"  
  
"I want to be a business man, but I also want to teach beyblading to kids."  
  
"Why not do both? You can still be a business man and teach beyblading at the same time."  
  
"You mean, like organize a business that teaches kids how to beyblade?"  
  
"Sure. Why not? You can have a beyblade school and make money from it. I can help you to teach the students too."  
  
Ray laughed. "I'll think about it."  
  
Saber pulled out her mp3 player and handed an ear phone to Ray. As the two walked down the hallway, their hands joined together.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Solo sighed, forming white plumes in the air from her breath. It was  
cold in the park, but she felt warm near Kai's presence. It was also  
pretty quiet.  
  
"So how have you been doing?" she finally asked him. Kai merely  
shrugged.  
  
"Not too bad, I guess," he answered. "University's going to happen  
sooner than I think it would though."  
  
"I know what you mean," Solo agreed.  
  
"How about you?"  
  
"I'm doing fine. Oh right. Leslie told me that she might have her  
beyblading team battle in this year's Teams Pairs Championships as  
well." Leslie was Solo's older sister and was also a beyblader. She  
was a few years older than Solo and they had not seen each other for  
quite a number of years until the first Teams Pairs Championships  
occurred. The Bladebreakers and the Wildcats discovered that she was  
being used as a servant by her bit-beast Howler, and freed her from  
Howler by destroying it.  
  
"Is Leslie's beyblade gang still called the Howlers?" Kai asked out  
of curiosity.  
  
"No. They changed their name as soon as possible to erase the memory  
of Howler from their minds. Now they're called the Hellsings." =(I am  
not good with names)  
  
"So that means we may meet them eventually in the tournament," Kai  
concluded. Solo nodded. They were walking along the open park's  
pathway and stopped in the middle of a bridge. Solo peered at the  
frozen lake below them and flicked the snow of the ledge of the  
bridge. Kai watched her. The two stayed silent for a few minutes.  
  
"I'm so glad to see you again," Solo spoke up, after a while. She  
turned to look at Kai, who stared back.  
  
"Same here," he answered softly. Slowly, he reached out and put his  
hand around her cheek. Solo didn't protest. She looked longingly at  
his brown eyes.  
  
Feeling her face turn pink, she looked into another direction without  
turning away from him. When her eyes turned back at him, she walked a  
step closer to him.  
  
Finally, Kai couldn't stand it any longer. He lowered his head until  
it was at the same level as Solo's and kissed her. Solo closed her  
eyes as her arms went around his shoulders, his hands at her waist.  
  
They broke apart after a few seconds. Solo smiled, something Kai  
hadn't seen for such a long time, and took hold of his hand. This was  
a first.  
  
"Let's go back," she suggested.  
  
"Might as well think up of a new beyblading strategy," Kai added as  
the couple continued down the path.  
  
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 –  
  
"Here you go, Terri."  
  
"Why thank you!"  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
"Mmm! It's so sweet!" Terri licked her ice cream cone contently. Even though it was the dead of winter outside, Max and Terri decided to stop by an ice-cream store. I guess you could call them insane, especially at a time like this. They sat across from each other at a small round table.  
  
"So Max," Terri said. "You sure haven't changed a lot these past few years. You still look the same."  
  
"Huh! I guess you can say that again," Max said, turning a bit pink in the face. "Man, it's so good to see you again."  
  
"I never thought we would beyblade with each other in a tournament like this again. I was sort of afraid that you'll forget me and be taken away by some other girl-"  
  
"You were afraid? I was scared to death that some guy might have stolen you away!"  
  
Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Terri continued.  
  
"But I'm glad we were true to each other all this time," she told him honestly. She licked her ice cream again as Max glanced at her.  
  
"Terri?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Max reached out and brushed aside her hair from her face, leaning on his elbows which were on the table. Her violet coloured eyes stared back into his blue ones.  
  
"You're. . . . so pretty like this."  
  
"Really?" Terri asked softly. Max nodded. "I really like you, Max."  
  
"I like you t-- WHOA!!!!!!" Both Terri and Max yelped out loud as their table flipped sideways. They crashed onto the floor after their table crashed before them. Terri, however, managed to keep a hold onto both Max and her own ice cream cones. Their chairs toppled sideways a few seconds later.  
  
The store owner, as well as everyone else around them, turned to look at them.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"Oh my. The table must be broken."  
  
"Are you sure you're okay?"  
  
Max and Terri simply looked at each other, and smile sheepishly. '  
  
It turned out later that their table was missing a bolt, which held the table upright; therefore causing the table to become unstable.   
  
"So you made it to the basket-ball team?" Tyson asked.  
  
"Yeah," Lexis answered. "Even though Terri, Solo and Saber all stay with me as roommates, classmates, and teammates, our school doesn't exclude normal activities such as sports' teams. Our school specializes more in beyblading, but at the same time, we do all the stuff that other schools do."  
  
"Sounds like a lot of hard work still," Tyson admitted.  
  
"It does, but we manage to live through it. Solo, Saber, Terri, and I live in the same dorm and we have to bunk bed all the time. In a way, I guess you could say that we're so used to living with each other that it feels weird when we're separated."  
  
"Oh. I see." Tyson shoved his hands into his pockets as they walked to the elevator. Lexis pushed the UP button.  
  
"What about you? How's school going for you?"  
  
"Pretty okay, except for the exams."  
  
"I'll agree with you on that one." The elevator door opened and the two beybladers stepped inside.  
  
"Lexis?" Tyson called out.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you. . . ." Tyson swallowed. "Do you still like me?"  
  
Lexis' eyes went wide at that.  
  
"Of course I d-do!" she insisted. "Did you think that I've forgotten you already?"  
  
"No. It's just that. . . . well, you're acting differently than how you used to be. You. . . .were full of sunshine before. But now, you seem . . . . . so sad."  
  
Lexis turned towards him, her face confused.  
  
_Did I really change that much_? she asked herself.  
  
"I'm sorry." Her shoulders sagged forward. "I. . . I've been through a lot lately."  
  
"What is it-" Tyson started to say, but was interrupted by the DING of the elevator as the door opened. Lexis walked out of the elevator with Tyson following her from behind and went to their hotel room. Unlocking the door, the two stepped inside. Kenny greeted them from inside.  
  
"Guess what?" Kenny said before the two of them could say anything else. "Mr. Dickinson just told us that the Howlers are going to visit us before the tournament starts."  
  
"Really?" Tyson said enthusiastically.  
  
"Didn't they change their name? Solo told me something like that," Lexis said.  
  
"Yeah. They're now the Hellsings. If we're lucky, we may battle them again in the tournament."  
  
"Alright! I can wait to battle Leslie!" Tyson said enthusiastically. "Lexis, I just thought up of a new strategy for our upcoming beyblading matches."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah. Instead of my Phantom Hurricane hiding you inside for an attack, why don't we suck up the opponents and camouflage the wind attack so you can attack from the inside?" Lexis thought for a second.  
  
"Okay. I can go for that. Sure, we'll try it out tomorrow." Just then, a phone rang. It was obviously a cell phone, because it was ringing to the sound of Pachebel's Canon.  
  
"Excuse me." Lexis walked to a side of the room and pulled a silver flip-phone (flip-phones are in this year. All of my friends have on. . .). Flipping it open, she said casually, "Hello?"  
  
She waited for a few seconds before she answered back, "Oh hi Ren. Yeah, I'm in Russia now. How're you doing in Australia? . . . . . . . . Yeah, it's freezing cold here while it's hot over there." She laughed a bit. Tyson glanced at her. "Yes, of course I miss you! I wish I can see you soon again, Ren. . . . . . . Take care and email me! Okay, bye!"  
  
"Who's that?" Tyson asked.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"The person you were just talking to?"  
  
"Oh. My friend, Ren. He and I worked together on a beyblading assignment in England about 7 months ago before he was sent to Australia to study."  
  
Tyson simply shrugged, but deep in his mind, he had a slight suspicion that Lexis was not telling him something.  
  
"We're back!" The door opened and in entered: Max, Terri, Saber, Ray, Solo, and Kai.  
  
"Mr. Dickinson told me that Lord of the Rings was going to be on tonight," Saber said, running towards the TV and switching it on.  
  
"It's so violent though," Terri sighed.  
  
"Not really, if you compare it to some other violent movie," Max said.  
  
"Popcorn's ready," Ray said, bringing a bowlful.  
  
Kai and Solo simply sat down on the couch. Kenny, Lexis and Tyson quickly joined everyone else.  
  
Lexis put her hand on top of Tyson's as they sat next to each other. But outside in the hallway, rapid footsteps were heard running down from their door. It was almost as if someone had followed them to their hotel room and had ran away to report their room number to their leader.  
  
() () () () () () () () () () () () () () () () () () ()
> 
> Okay, exams are coming up and I really should be studying. So it might take me a while before I can update. Oh ya, I'm going to Hong Kong for a month, so please pardon my absence and long updates. Thank you for your reviews.  
  
Zero2-the-scyther


	4. Practice, practice, and MORE practice

One True Team: Forever  
  
Very sorry if this update is very, very late!! Exams suck! Anyhow, please be honest with your reviews and tell me what to fix up in the story so far! Thanks for reading!  
  
- 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0  
  
"ARGH!" Saber yawned loudly as she slipped on her black PJ's. "Solo, is your sister's gang coming in a few days?"  
  
"Yep. She told me that they wanted to have a little friendly match against us before the tournament started. That's her way of saying hi to us." Solo sat on her bed, in her black pajamas which was edged in red. Her bed was just across from Saber's, whose bed was next to Terri's. Lexis' bed was across from Terri's and next to Solo's.  
  
"Lexis? Have you seen my book anywhere?" Terri asked, searching through her luggage bag.  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"The one by Lois Duncan. 'Daughters of Eve'."  
  
"Oh! I have it. You said that I could read it first," Lexis said, holding up the book.  
  
"Oh. Okay. Never mind then. I thought I lost it. Thanks for reminding me."  
  
"No problem." Lexis ruffled through her backpack and took out an envelope which she had not opened.  
  
Opening it, she saw that it was a letter from her mother.  
  
Dear Lexis,  
  
How are you doing, dear? I miss you very much. Sometimes I stare at your photos from when you were young for minutes.  
  
Your report car tells me that your grades are not as high as they used to be. Get more rest, dear. If you do not get enough rest, you will not do well in school. Please try to work harder to achieve your grades. Congratulations on making it to the basketball team. I am very proud of you.  
  
Your father and I have tried to keep you happy, but we cannot be happy within each other's presence. I know this is hard on you, but you must accept this. Please forgive us for putting you in this position.  
  
The doctor says that the KEMO therapy is working and that my health has improved since 5 months ago. Your photos and your smile are what gave me strength to bear this pain.  
  
I will write to you later about our decision of separation between your father and I. Meanwhile, stay strong.  
  
Love always,  
  
Mom.  
  
Dang it, Lexis thought as her eyes started to water.  
  
She rushed to the bathroom and quickly washed her face, so that her eyes would be red from the water anyhow.  
  
I'm sorry Mom, she thought. After a few minutes, she went back outside and sad on top of her bed.  
  
"Saber," Terri said. "Are you taking design tech next year?"  
  
"Yep. I'm also taking a business course as well as another tech course. I just need to survive in English and I'll probably ace through the other classes."  
  
"Yeah right. You just sleep through them," Lexis laughed as she refolded her letter and put it back into her backpack.  
  
"Not really. Just the boring ones," Saber sighed. "I'll stay awake this year though. I don't want to fail the grade and start all over again."  
  
"Who does?" Solo replied.  
  
"Its 11:30," Terri said, looking at the digital radio clock on her dresser. "Let's get some rest."  
  
"Already?"  
  
"We have to practice and train for the tournament starting tomorrow," Lexis said, climbing into the covers of her bed.  
  
"Okay fine."  
  
"G'd night, everyone," Terri replied as she switched off the light.  
  
"Good night."  
  
"Sleep tight."  
  
"Hope the bed bugs will bite--"  
  
"SABER!"  
  
"Sorry! I was just joking." Pretty soon, everyone had fallen asleep. The only light on was the light to the bathroom.  
  
(8) – (8) – (8) - (8) - (8) – (8) – (8) – (8) –  
  
"Man, I still can't believe the Wildcats are beyblading with us again!" Max exclaimed happily.  
  
"Me neither," Ray agreed. "Do you think we can win the tournament again, like we did last year?"  
  
"I really don't know, but hey, we'll strive for the best," Kenny said.  
  
"Sure, why not," Tyson said unenthusiastically.  
  
"Hey dude," said Max, noticing the drop in his friend's voice. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Lexis," Tyson sighed. "She doesn't seem interested in beyblading with me as she used to. She's also changed. Like, for instance, she doesn't smile that much anymore and she's also a lot quieter. It's as if something's bothering her. Pretty soon, I'm freaked out that she might turn into somebody like Kai—"  
  
"Well, at least my beyblading skills are more superior next to yours," Kai grunted in the back of the room.  
  
"And I'm scared she might have lost interest in me, you know?" Tyson said, taking off his cap.  
  
"Hey man," Ray replied, sitting next to Tyson on the side of the bed. "You just got back together in person after two years. You've got to expect changes from her. Saber's changed a bit too. She's much happier now and I think she's a bit more mature than she was before."  
  
"At least she's still interested in you. What if Lexis has lost interest in me?"  
  
"It's possible, but you shouldn't consider that right away. You know, think positive. Give Lexis a chance. Show her that you care for her, and if she cares for you too, that's good," Ray advised.  
  
"If it really bothers you that much, then talk to her about it," Max said. "It might not be you that is her problem but something else she's going through."  
  
"Maybe," Tyson spoke up. "But I'll continue to stay true to her. Right now, we have to concentrate on winning the tournament. I bet she just misses all the action we've done in the past."  
  
"Could be," Ray said. "She might just be lonely for the past 2 years and has trouble warming up to you again. She could be shy, you know."  
  
"Probably, but no matter what, she and I are going to be the number one beyblading pair in this tournament," Tyson said, smiling.  
  
"Now that's the spirit!" Kenny said.  
  
"Alright! Go Tyson!" Dizzy replied from Kenny's laptop.  
  
"Now shut up and get some rest," Kai replied.  
  
"Old sourpuss," Tyson laughed under his breath. Max shook his head in his direction. Kenny got up and turned off the lights.  
  
"Good night, all," Ray yawned.  
  
"Don't forget to wake up on time tomorrow," Max said.  
  
"ZZZZZZZZZ!" Tyson was already asleep.  
  
() – () – () – () – () – () – () – () – () – () – () –  
  
"Okay. Now let's try the strategy you were talking about yesterday," Lexis said as she took out Jaguarah.  
  
"Okay. Here goes. Let it rip!" Dragoon flew into the battle dish. Jaguarah landed a few centimeters away from Dragoon as it swerved to the middle.  
  
"Should I release the test beyblades?" Lexis asked as she stood next to a robotic beyblade launching system.  
  
"Go on. I'm ready."  
  
Lexis pressed a button and the machine released two beyblades into their battle dish.  
  
"Dragoon, Phantom Hurricane Attack!" Tyson yelled. A hurricane erupted from his beyblade and began to spread throughout the entire battle dish. Eventually, the other two beyblades were also absorbed into the powerful wind and was spun around over and over again.  
  
"Go Jaguarah!" Jaguarah flew into Dragoon's hurricane as well. "Use Camouflage Adaptation now!" Dragoon's windstorm turned bright orange as Jaguarah remained hidden within the orange hurricane, the other two beyblades clearly visible.  
  
"Jaguarah, Jaguar Paw Scratch!" With two clean cuts, the other two beyblades flew out of the hurricane and landed outside the bowl.  
  
"Alright!" Tyson cheered as he gave Lexis a high-five.  
  
"It worked like a charm," Lexis said. "But of course, these were only dummy beyblades. We'll have to practice this strategy more so that it'll end the opponents quicker. If we stall too long, they might find some way to stop the hurricane attack."  
  
"Yeah," Tyson agreed. "We should give this strategy a name. What was the name of our first battle move?"  
  
"Uh. . . . . DJ Destruction, if I'm not mistaken."  
  
"Oh yeah. Then, we should call this . . . . . um. . . . How about JD Absorption?" (I am not good with names. . .)  
  
"Okay." Lexis went over to pick up their beyblades as Tyson put back the other test beyblades into the robotic beyblade launching system.  
  
The Bladebreakers and the Wildcats had already finished their breakfast and lunch, and was currently practicing for the tournament. Terri and Max were asking Kenny for advice with their defense strategy while Ray and Saber were working on a new attack strategy. Tyson and Lexis were practicing their JD Absorption together while Kai and Solo were trying to come up of a new way to attack their opponents.  
  
"Chief, how can Max and I work out a new defense strategy?" Terri asked Kenny.  
  
"Well, why don't I have Dizzy analyze your stats?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Ray, why don't we have our bit-beasts corner our opponents and use our attacks at the same time?" Saber suggested to Ray, who looked at the battle dish.  
  
"Hmm . . . . that's not too bad an idea," he said slowly. "I know. Why don't we circle around the battle dish, gather the opponents' beyblades to a side together, and attack on either side with your scythe claw attack and my tiger claw attack?"  
  
"Okay. But this plan might have a weakness," Saber pointed out. "If we have cornered only one of the beyblades while the other one is still moving about, that one beyblade can intercept our attack by knocking us over, so that only one of our attacks hit the cornered beyblade."  
  
"Good point. But we can back it up with our X-Claw Collision attack, right?"  
  
"I guess. . . What the heck? We won't know until we try it!"  
  
"For now, let's call this second strategy the Twin Claw Deception," Ray said, smiling.  
  
"Okay. Now, let's practice it," Saber said as she picked up Panthera. Ray and Saber both released Driger and Panthera into the dish.  
  
"Okay, Driger. Just stay put for now." Ray walked over to another robotic beyblade launching system and pressed a button. Two beyblades spun out of the machine and landed into the stadium.  
  
"First, we want them to get cornered right?"  
  
"Well, theoretically, yes."  
  
"So the two of us will have to move on opposite sides but still be nearby." Panthera and Driger chased after the two beyblades, circling around the dish a couple times. Pretty soon, Panthera knocked a beyblade into Driger's direction. Driger nudged that beyblade into the other beyblade so that the two test beyblades were together side by side.  
  
"Alright. Panthera, scythe claw attack now!"  
  
"Driger! Tiger claw attack!" Both of their attacks came diagonally at the two beyblades, which immediately flew out of the ring.  
  
"Yes! It worked!" Saber cheered, pumping a fist in the air.  
  
"But we'll have to try it on two real beybladers in order to know for sure," Ray concluded.  
  
"Dranzer, Spin Fire Attack!" Dranzer flew up from the air and as it descended towards the ground, nailed the test beyblade to the ground. Almost simultaneously, Bengalion covered Dranzer by wiping out the same beyblade with its Bengal Tiger Scratch. They got ride of the second test beyblade with their Collision Course.  
  
"Guess the new strategy we thought of really worked," Kai said.  
  
"Yeah. How bout we call it the Wipe-out Maneuver?" Solo asked.  
  
"Why not?" The two then practiced a bit more on their Wipe-out Maneuver and spent the rest of the day going one on one in a beyblade match.  
  
"Did Dizzy's information help you?" Kenny asked Max and Terri after they had practiced for another 45 minutes.  
  
"Oh yeah," Max grinned. "We now have an attack strategy called the DC Formation. We break free from our defense play, go on opposite sides of one beyblade, and we crush it by ramming it in from both sides. We'll also use our attacks. If the other beyblade comes to try and free it, we'll attack it with our bit-beasts."  
  
"That sounds like a great plan," Kenny smiled. "I'm sure you two will master it in no time at all."  
  
"Chief, can we take a break?" Tyson called from a corner of the room. "We've been practicing for nearly 2 hours straight now!"  
  
"Sure. Everyone, take a break!" Kenny yelled. Everyone stopped practicing and went out to the hall to get a drink. Mr. Dickinson met them in the hallway.  
  
"How's your practice coming along?" he asked as the teenagers greeted him.  
  
"Great, Mr. D. We've managed to come up with new battle strategies, but we just need to practice them a bit more," Tyson answered brightly.  
  
"Hmm. . . . . How would you kids like to go have some fun in the evening as a bonus for your hard work? If I'm not mistaken, there should be a dance at the hotel's ballroom. There's also a large buffet and you don't have to reserve seats to be there."  
  
"Really?" Terri gasped.  
  
"Alright!" Max cheered.  
  
"That sounds fun!" Tyson grinned. "I'll be there for the food."  
  
"Your appetite sure hasn't changed one bit," Lexis observed.  
  
"We don't have to dress up for this, do we?" Saber asked.  
  
"No, you don't."  
  
"Okay. Then I'll be there!" Saber smiled in relief.  
  
"Count me in too," Ray said, flashing a grin. Solo and Kai both shrugged, which meant they would like to go as well.  
  
"When do we have to go there?" asked Kenny.  
  
"There's a buffet, which starts at 6:00. The dance will keep on going until 11:30. You kids can stay until 11:30 if you want. Just make sure you don't cause any trouble and don't stay up too late." Mr. Dickinson smiled.  
  
Across the hallway, around a corner, a shadow shone onto the tiled floor. But when the two teams walked back into the training room, it disappeared without a trace.  
  
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Wow! Can't believe I finished this chapter just before I go to Hong Kong. I won't be updating until 3 more weeks or so. Please review and I'm sorry if this chapter was sort of a drag! ;;; Have a nice summer!  
  
Zero2-the-scyther 


	5. Dancing partners

One True Team: Forever

I'm terribly sorry if this chapter was very very VERY late!!!!!!!!!! HK was so humid. . . . . . . anyhow, thank you for all those who reviewed the last chapter! :D Enjoy this chapter and please let me know what can be improved on this story!

(8) (8) (8) (8) (8) (8) (8) (8) (8) (8) (8) - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"OH SHOOT!" Saber was running all around her room, braid whipping around dangerously.

"What?" Lexis asked in annoyance.

"I can't find my skirt!" Saber started digging into her luggage bag for the fiftieth time again.

"Well, you don't have to wear a skirt," Terri said, combing her hair to one side and clipping it. "Besides, you usually don't any how. You don't have to wear one just because the rest of us are wearing one."

"But if I don't, then I'll stand out," Saber said, from behind her pile of clothes. "And I have to show Ray just how lady-like I can be. Besides, girls should wear skirts once in a while, shouldn't they?"

Terri looked at herself in the full-length mirror. Dressed in a turquoise boat-necked quartered-sleeved shirt with a purple skirt on the bottom, she examined herself carefully. The outfit wasn't too formal, which was okay, and just right for casual wear. She put on a silver bracelet and took out her pair of low heeled shoes.

Lexis was wearing a sleeveless baby blue shirt with a matching skirt on the bottom. She wore a necklace with a music note pendant around her neck and was currently busy reading a book. Her brown hair was combed straight.

Solo was inside the bathroom, taking a shower. She had been inside for 20 minutes now. Terri turned away from the mirror, and walked towards Saber.

"Did you find your skirt yet?" Terri asked. "Or do I have to lend you one?"

"FOUND IT!!" Saber held up a black skirt, grinning from ear to ear. All her clothes were lying in a big heap on her bed, with her luggage bag wide open. Lexis looked up from her book.

At that moment, Solo walked out of the bathroom. Dressed in a turtle-necked collar sleeveless black shirt with red edging and small designs, a black skirt with short-slits at the side and red flowers on one side of the dress, she walked to one side of the bathroom doorway as Saber ran past her and into the bathroom. Her hair was pulled up into her usual high pony tail.

"Yo, is it okay if I go outside first?" Solo asked as she put on her black low heeled shoes.

"Sure," Lexis said. "We're just going to wait for Saber."

With that, Solo left the girls' room and sat down on one of the couches in the living room of the hotel room.

8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8- -8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 - - 8 – 8 – 8

"Well Max, how do I look?" Tyson flung out his arms. Max observed him. Tyson was wearing a white dress shirt (or what you call business shirts) and black slacks.

"Great," Max answered. He buttoned up his own white shirt but left the collar loose and was wearing brown slacks. Ray and Kai also wore shirts and black slacks. Only Ray's shirt was light blue and Kai's black. All the boys had left the collar loose and had rolled up the sleeves right to the elbows.

"I'll go outside first," Tyson said, after putting on his shoes. He opened the door and walked into the living room. The first person he saw was Solo, who was flicking through the TV channels. She glanced at him when he walked into the room. Tyson almost felt akward when he sat down on the opposite couch. He had hardly ever been in a room with just Solo, and she was almost like a female Kai.

"Is there anything good on?" he tried asking. Solo didn't answer him right away.

"Not really," she said, after 10 seconds had passed.

"I see." Tyson tried to think of something else to say. "You look good. Kai sure is going to be happy to see you like this." Solo scoffed, her lips almost forming a smile.

"I'm sure Lexis will be too when she sees you," she said in return. Tyson shrugged, then looked down at the carpeted floor.

"Say," he said, not looking up. "Solo, can I ask you something?" Solo nodded in response, eyes still onto the TV.

"Lexis isn't mad at me, is she? I mean, um, like, does she still like me?"

Click click click. Solo pressed on the remote. Tyson waited patiently for her answer, biting on his bottom lip.

"Yeah, she still likes you. She won't say it, but I can tell by her actions." Click click click. The channels kept switching as Solo pressed on the remote some more. "Why do you ask? Did you guys have a fight or somethin'?"

"No. Well, at least, I don't think so. It's just that-" Tyson took off his base-ball cap and fiddled with it. "She seems to be in a bad mood lately, and she doesn't seem as excited about me as she did when we first met."

"Well, you've got a point. Lexis has been in a bad mood for quite sometime now. She's been like this since mid-term exams. We thought that you two broke up or something, but it seems that you didn't. So we were hoping that when she sees you again, you will be able to cheer her up."

"Oh. I see." Tyson put his cap back on. "Well, thanks for being honest with me. Please, don't ment-"

"I won't tell her you asked," Solo said, nodding. Her eyes were still on the TV.

"Thanks."

The door opened and Saber appeared in the living room. Dressed in her black skirt, and a red sleeveless shirt with a opened ruffled dress shirt over that, she quickly rolled the sleeves of the shirt to her elbows.

"Hey Tyson! Looking good there," Saber said, cheerfully.

"Thanks. That goes for you too."

The boys' room opened, and Kenny came out. Dressed in his white shirt and brown slacks, he greeted Solo and Saber.

"After this, we have to work hard on beyblading," he told the small group.

"Don't worry, Chief, we will."

Eventually, Terri, Lexis, Max, Kai, and Ray came. Together the two teams walked out of their hotel room and waited for the elevator to go down to the dining room.

6 – 6- 6 -6 – 6- 6 – 6- 6- 6- 6- 6- 6- 6- 6-

As soon as they walked near the dining/dance room, the teenagers could already hear music being played inside. It wasn't very loud yet, and it was a jazz group who were playing inside live.

"Let's go check out the buffet," Tyson said eagerly to Lexis, who had her arm around his elbow.

"Sure."

"I just wanted to say that you look really nice in that outfit of yours," he quickly said.

"Oh. Why, thank you." Lexis smiled. Both teams walked together to find a table. As soon as their table was found, Tyson immediately walked to the buffet.

10 minutes later, everyone was eating their first dish while Tyson was on his 3rd.

"Man, I'm stuffed!" Max said, after his 4th dish. "Tyson, how can you eat that much?" Tyson was still eating his 8th.

"Well, he IS Tyson, you know," Ray said, an Anime sweat drop sliding from his cheek. ;

Applause struck the room as the jazz band struck their final note and packed up their gear to go. A DJ came in and replaced them. While the music equipment was being set up, everyone sat back in their seats.

"Do you know how many teams we'll be up against?"

Saber asked Chief from across the table.

"Approximately 40 pairs of teams signed up for this year's tournament," Kenny said, as he typed into his laptop. "That's a lot more than the number of teams which participated in the last tournament. They're going to have to divide the teams up into Groups A, B, C, and D this year."

Suddenly, the voice of the DJ was heard from the microphone.

"Alright, everyone! I hoped everyone enjoyed dinner! How are you doing, folks? Enjoying the cold weather of Russia?" Loud cheers were heard from the people.

"Okay then," the DJ said. "Then let's get this party started with a bang! Get ready to dance folks!"

With that, a loud fast song was played, and people started to get up from their chairs to dance on the shiny marbled dance floor.

"Alright! Let's go Ray," Saber said excitedly. "I haven't danced with you for how many years?"

"Yeah, sure. I wouldn't want to miss out all the fun," Ray grinned as he and Saber

Solo and Kai didn't move out their chairs. Instead they sat next to each other, with Solo's right foot jiggling to the beat of the music.

Max and Terri got up from their chairs a few seconds after Ray and Saber did, with Lexis and Tyson right behind them.

"I haven't had this much fun since our last dance," Max shouted over to Terri.

"Same here!" Terri shouted back. The music was REALLY loud. The DJ spun 3 more fast songs.

After the song "Sk8er Boi" (Skater Boy) by Avril Lavigne (yes, I'm REALLY slow on songs! This is the only song I really like by Avril anyhow), the song "Because You Love Me" by Suzann Rye was played.

Saber and Ray stayed close together, Saber's head lying on one side of Ray's shoulder. Terri and Max were nearby the couple. Even Kai and Solo by now, had gotten up to dance.

Tyson looked nervously at Lexis, who stood in front of him. She stared back him.

"You wanna dance?" he asked her. Lexis nodded. They reached forward to each other and tried to treasure that moment, but Tyson could feel that they were dancing most awkwardly.

After the song, Lexis stepped away from him. "I'm sorry, Tyson, but do you mind if I sit down for the rest of the dance? I'm not feeling too well."

"O-oh." Tyson was disappointed. "Um, no, I don't mind. Why not. Are you okay?"

"I just have a headache. That's all," Lexis said.

"Okay."

"I'm so sorry, Tyson-"

"No, it's okay. I hope your headache gets better. Say, Lexis, if some girl asks me to dance with her, should I refuse her because of you?"

"Um, no. I'm not actually the jealous '_jealous_' type, if you know what I mean. Besides, you're probably going to be bored to death, and I wouldn't want a girl to think that you're impolite. If she seems okay, then you _could_ dance with her. So. . ."

"So are you saying you don't mind?"

"Well, y-yeah. Just for this time, I won't mind. I'm just sorry I had to step out like this."

"No need to apologize. Take an aspirin if the headache gets worse. Are you going to stay here or go back to our hotel room?"

"It depends on how worse my headache gets. I'll sit down at our table for now. If you don't see me afterwards, then you'll know that I've gone up to our room. Sorry again."

"Okay. Take care." With that, Lexis kissed him on the mouth gently, and walked away from the dance floor. Tyson sighed.

Well, might as well go find the others and hang out with them until then, he thought as the people around him danced to the upbeat of the music.

Tyson was just walking around the crowds of people when suddenly somebody ran into him.

"Ow!" Tyson yelped as the person who ran into him accidentally stepped on his foot.

"Huh? Oops! Sorry. Are you okay?" The person turned out to be a girl, with long straight hair. Her hair was dyed red and she was wearing a pink halter styled tank-top and a beige skirt above her knees. A pair of black heeled strapped shoes was worn on her feet and she was wearing a silver chained bracelet with small bells on her left hand. Tyson just kind of stared at her as she continued on with her apology. She had green eyes and a sparkling smile. Her teeth seemed to be perfect too.

"-sure you're alright?"

"Wha-? Uh, yeah. I'm okay. It wasn't really your fault. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking anyhow."

"Sorry. Say, you want to dance with me to make up for that?" the girl asked, smiling. Tyson stared at her for a few seconds.

"Uh, s-sure." It was really weird dancing with another girl besides Lexis. It was almost strange for Tyson. But Lexis DID allow him to do it, just this once. As the two moved to the beat of the music, the girl looked at Tyson.

"Say, I know it's none of my business, but are you a beyblader?" she yelled through the music.

"Well, um, yes. Why do you ask?"

"You look sort of familiar, that's all. Didn't you battle in Russia like, 4 years ago?"

"Yeah, I did. I came back 2 years ago too."

"Say, are you Tyson?" the girl asked excitedly.

"Yep. And you are?"

"Oh my gosh! You're TYSON, from the Bladebreakers?! That's so cool! Mind if I shake your hand?" Before Tyson could even response, she quickly shook his hand. Tyson could only blink at that. What's with her?

"I'm sorry, but do you mind taking a picture with me?" The girl quickly took out a small digital camera from a pocket in her skirt. Tyson, with an anime sweatdrop sliding down his cheek, nodded reluctantly.

Pretty soon, the picture was taken. Tyson, still puzzled, turned to the girl. "Say, what's up?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm a fan of yours. I'm sorry. Did I scare you?"

"No. Not really."

"Oh. Okay, then. Oh, how rude of me! I haven't even told you my name yet, have I? Let's start over."

"Hi, my name is Tyson."

"Nice to meet you. My name Joie. Have you come here for a vacation? I can show you around if you like."

"Actually, the Bladebreakers and the Wildcats are here to battle in a Teams Pairs Championships tournament."

"You mean the rest of the Bladebreakers are here? WOW!"

I guess she's okay, even though she MAY be a little enthusiastic about me, Tyson thought as Joie continued on.

"Well, Tyson, it's nice to meet you. I'm not staying in this hotel however, so we might not meet again. Good luck to you in your tournament."

"Thanks. Nice to meet you too."

"Oh, before I go, could I . . . could I have your autograph?" Joie smiled shyly.

"Sure. Do you have pen and paper?"

"I'm afraid I don't. Sorry."

"Oh. I know. I'll just ask the Chief for a pen. Is it okay if I sign it on a napkin?"

"Yeah sure."

As Tyson walked to their table with Joie right behind him, he couldn't help but feel happy. He'd never been so flattered by a fan girl before. Usually they would just crowd around him and try to grab him or something. But this time, even though she had asked for photos, a handshake, and an autograph, Joie was actually nice to him and treated him like a friend, not an idol.

"Hey Chief! You got a pen and paper?" Tyson asked as he approached Kenny, who was sitting on his chair. He was STILL typing on his laptop.

"Yeah. You're lucky I have both." Handing a paper and pen to Tyson, he looked around.

"Lexis went back upstairs. She didn't look so good."

"I see." Taking the pen, Tyson wrote on the paper: _Hey Joie! Nice to have met u! Maybe I'll run into u again sometime! =) Well, cya soon!_

He signed his name under that, and handed the paper to Joie.

"Thank you," Joie said, smiling.

"No problem. Thanks for the dance," Tyson said.

"Well, I've got to go. Thanks once again. Goodbye!" Joie waved as she walked away. Tyson waved back and watched her disappear into the crowd.

"Who's that?" Saber asked as she and Ray walked up to Tyson.

"Huh? Oh, just some fan girl who danced with me."

"Fan girl?" Ray raised an eyebrow at that. "Here? In Russia?"

"What do you mean?" Tyson asked, offended.

"I thought the girls would hate you here because you defeated Tala and the Demolition Boys 4 years ago."

"Well, unlike YOU, I'm glad that SOME girls here actually think of me as their idol," Tyson said loudly, crossing his arms.

"Wow! That was so much fun!" Max exclaimed as he and Terri went to join them.

"Where's Lexis?" Terri asked, concerned.

"She wasn't feeling well, so she went back to the room. I think she left like 45 minutes ago," Kenny said, looking at his watch.

"Then we better go now. We have to train tomorrow for the tournament," Max said.

Kai and Solo joined them after a few minutes later. Soon the two teams left the room, and walked together to the elevator, talking about the dance and the training that would begin tomorrow.

But Tyson somehow, just couldn't forget Joie. Even though he knew that Lexis didn't mind him dancing with another girl like her just this once, he just couldn't erase her from his mind.

8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 – 8

TERRIBLY SORRY HOW LATE THIS CHAPTER WAS UPDATED!!!!! I've been doing my volunteer hours these weeks! Please forgive me! I hoped you liked this chapter! But I thought I could have done better on it! I don't know! You guys tell me! Please review!!! Thanks for reading!

Zero2-the-scyther


	6. To Teamwork!

One True Team: Forever

Sorry for my late updates! I'll try to update sooner! Due to school, I might update extremely late. Anyhow, thank you for those who reviewed my last chapter. By the way, I DID have fun in Hong Kong! )

Enjoy!

90 – 90 – 90 – 90 – 90 – 90 – 90 – 90 – 90 – 90 – 90 –

Riiing! Riiiing! Riiiing! Riiiing!

"Argh!" Terri moaned and rolled to one side of the bed to where the dresser was. She pushed the OFF button to the alarm clock with one hand. It was 8:00 am.

Slowly sitting up from her bed, she looked about sleepily. Saber and Solo were still asleep, but Lexis' bed was empty. A note was left on Terri's dresser. It said: 'Gone to practice at the practice room. Won't be joining you for breakfast. Lexis'.

Guess someone decided to practice early todayTerri thought.

When she and the others had returned to their room last night, Terri had found Lexis asleep in her bed. Tyson had explained that Lexis had a headache in the middle of the dance and had left.

That would explain why I'd seen Tyson dancing with some other girl, Terri realized. I better wake the others.

Terri got off from her bed and walked to Saber and Solo's beds. She nudged Solo, who woke up rather quickly, and had to take at least a minute pushing Saber before she woke up.

"Lexis has gone practicing?" Saber yawned when Terri had explained the missing teammate's reason.

"Yeah. Now come on, get up and brush your teeth," Terri said. "We still have to eat breakfast and practice afterwards."

"Oh man! I want to sleep in-"

"Saber, move it!"

"Okay, fine." Grumbling, Saber rolled off the bed and crawled to the bathroom. Solo walked to the window and looked out.

Moscow sure looks white with all that snow, she thought as she stared at the snowy city. Snow was falling down from the sky and it was a rather pretty sight.

Solo sighed. Things weren't going as smoothly as she had thought. They were probably at least one or two days behind in their practices/training, which could lower their chances of coming in first for the tournament.

After a rather quick breakfast, the two teams rushed to the training room and practiced for 4 hours straight. Lexis, who looked a lot better than the night before, worked with Tyson to perfect their timing in their new strategy. Max and Terri worked to strengthen their attack plan while Saber and Ray were just going one on one on each other. Solo and Kai had just finish practicing both their battle strategies and were now fixing their own blades.

"Alright! We've managed to put our backs into practicing for at least 4 hours today," Chief announced proudly as everyone cheered. "We're doing pretty well so far. If we keep up with our training daily like this, we should be able to defeat the other teams in no time at all."

"Alright!" Tyson pumped his fist into the air.

"Say, Chief, do you have any clues as to who is going to compete in this tournament that we know of?" Max asked, as he stretched.

"Well, besides the Howlers, a.k.a. the Hellsings, we don't have record of any other teams we have faced in the past as a whole." Kenny's fingers pressed onto the keys of his keyboard as he clicked onto a window, which showed the teams in the tournament.

"That's a lot more teams than the tournament had before in the past," Lexis observed.

"We should be able to flatten most of these teams flat," Saber said, playing with her braid. "Most of them are just amateurs and the rest of them don't have enough power to finish us off."

"I don't know about that," Ray said as he skimmed through the huge list. "It looks as if we're going to have more competition this year than last time. Since both our teams have claimed the championship titles as the Teams Pairs Champions, everyone else would do everything to take our title away."

"Darn! So much for slacking off," Saber grumbled.

"Saber!" Terri exclaimed. Solo and Lexis both shook their heads in disapproval.

"Now, back to our teams, we're divided into Groups A, B, C, and D this time. We are currently in Group D, and our first match should be next week, either on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday." Kenny nodded.

"Then we should get a move on it and practice harder," Kai said firmly. "We've already wasted too much time. If we are to defend our titles, then we will have to work twice as hard as the last championships in order to maintain it. All of you have won a tournament before, so you should know how much harder it is to maintain a title than win it." Everyone stayed quiet as they absorbed Kai's words. He'd never said this much before to a large group of people, so it probably meant how serious he was getting at.

"Okay. Alright then, let's resume our training with a pair-on-pair battle," Kenny said. "Max and Terri will be facing Kai and Solo, while Ray and Saber will be facing Lexis and Tyson. Exchange pairs after you have battled at least three times. You may battle longer with the same pair if necessary." Everyone followed Chief's orders and in a matter of seconds, beyblades were flying everywhere. They kept at it for almost 2 ½ hours.

1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1

"Say, aren't those the Bladebreakers?"

"Looks like it." The two girls peered through the glass window that was situated on one of the walls of the training/practice room.

"I didn't realize they were staying in this hotel," the first girl said, as the second girl looked down at the window.

"Hmm. They are the champions of the last tournament, aren't they?"

"Yep. They're the ones everyone is going after." The second girl brushed her hair back from her face. Music could be heard coming from her MP3 player.

"They sure don't look much, for competition that is," the first girl spoke up again, folding her hands against her chest.

"The Bladebreakers?"

"No. The other group, those girls. You see?"

"Hm. . . oh! You meant _them_. Who are they?"

"Don't know, but our main goal is obviously the Bladebreakers."

"That means we'll have to eliminate the group they're with first and _then_ take them head on." The rhythm of the music blared from her headphones. She nodded to the beat of the music as her friend continued to examine the bladers below in the practice room.

"You know, I wouldn't have agreed to join this stupid tournament last second if I hadn't know these guys would be here as well," the first girl said, as she turned away from the window.

"Yeah. Neither would have the rest of us," the other replied. "I guess we're all here in this tournament for our own individual reasons, eh?"

"Hm. Probably."

After a few more seconds, the girl turned away from the window. "They certainly won't be showing much of their moves here right now in the practice room," she said, yawning as she walked down the hallway. "Come on. We'd better go back."

The two girls walked down the lighted hallway, with the music from the MP3 echoing off the walls and down the corridor.

- X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X -

"So then I told the girl that I _was_ Max from the Bladebreakers, and you know what she did? She thought I was actually faking it!"

Everyone laughed. Max had told them what had happened to him while he was on a tour to Australia. The Bladebreakers and the Wildcats were now having a late lunch after their practice. Everyone was exhausted both mentally and physically. With their skills and battle strategies almost perfected, the two teams were extremely tired. Max tilted his glass of pop back as he finished it. Everyone else was trying to drink something without giggling or choking on it, but no one had succeeded. Pretty soon, the waiter had to be asked to bring at least a dozen more napkins to the table.

Saber and Ray were nodding to the beat of a song playing on Saber's mp3 player while Kenny was explaining about how Mr. Dickinson had told him about the tournament. It sounded as if this year's tournament was going to be even more complicated than the last tournament.

"Say, when does Leslie get here?" Tyson asked Solo.  
  
"I'm not sure. It should be either tomorrow or the day after, but she hasn't called me about it. I send her an e-mail but she hasn't replied yet," Solo answered.

"She'll probably let us know soon," said Kai, his arm over Solo's shoulder. Suddenly, Pachebel's Canon rang, its dinky little sounds coming from Lexis' pocket.

"Excuse me," she said as she pushed her chair aside and pulled out her cell phone. Walking away from the group, she flipped it open. "Hello?"

As she walked away, Tyson peered behind his shoulder to glance at Lexis.

Everyone continued to talk as Lexis headed for the doorway, phone still at her ear.

"Hey Ren. I'm so glad you called. Can you do something for me-"

Tyson didn't hear anymore as Lexis walked out of the room.

"So, starting tomorrow, we're going to have to work extra hours if we want to keep our titles as the Teams Pairs Champions. Here's a toast to us all." Everyone stood up with their glasses.

"To teamwork!" Kenny said.

"To teamwork!" Everyone emptied their glass while Tyson looked back to where Lexis had gone. As he gulped down his drink, Lexis came back.

"Sorry, that was just my friend on the phone. Shall we go back to the gym now?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So you saw them in the hotel?"

"Yes. They were practicing. He was there too."

"Hmm. . . . interesting. I didn't think they were going to start practicing so soon."

"They DO have a title to keep, you know," the girl answered. The other girls sat in silence.

"So are we going to initiate a plan now, or should we wait until later?" someone asked.

"We're going to wait. We still have almost a week before the tournament officially starts. That should be more than enough time to figure out their weaknesses, and when I say their weakness, I mean everyone's weaknesses." The girl stood up. "Start practicing."

I'm EXTREMELY sorry that chapter was sooo short! But hey, I'm human TOO you know! Sorry about the SUPER long update! I hope u'll review this chapter and give me some feedback!

Zero2-the-scyther


	7. Guess who's finally here?

One True Team

Once again, sorry for the late updates!!! Will work on it. . . please give me feed back on this story by reviewing it! Thanks! Enjoy.

p.s. Sorry for the late update. I have this stupid Gr. 10 Literacy Test which I have to pass coming up. . . otherwise if I don't pass this stupid test, I can't graduate. . . 

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

What should I do? Lexis tossed and turned in her bed, thinking. She thought back to how everything had happened before she had decided to join the Wildcats to go and beyblade in the Teams Pairs Championships again.

The last few months had been an absolute hell to her. It first started off at school, when she had not done well on an important science project. Everyone was extremely surprised, for Lexis would be the last person on Earth anyone would think of screwing up on a science project. She had simply thought that it was a fluke and that she had been slacking off too much.

Then there was the news about her mother at the hospital. Lexis had had an awful shock, after learning that her mother had been discovered with cancer. The doctor had said that it was critical and that she had needed to go under therapy and a lot more. Lexis could not concentrate on her school work for at least two weeks, due to the fact that she was worried sick about her mother.

And more recently, there was that one letter from her mother. That letter almost ripped her apart.

I don't want to remember what that letter had said, but I can't forget it either, she thought miserably. She hadn't told anyone about her problems either, which made it even worse for her, with all the pressure and stress coming down on her.

So . . . what should I do?

She didn't want to lose her beyblade team, the Wildcats. Every member of the Wildcats was so dear and close to her: Terri, with her encouraging words and kind smile; Saber, with her sense of humor and open mind; and Solo, with her honesty and quiet nature.

They were all so important to her.

Then there was Tyson, her first and only love. He was the first person whom she had actually fallen in love with, the first man whom she actually had true feelings for. Sure there were always rumors going around about her and other guys, but Tyson was the only true one in her heart.

Lexis was positively sure that she'll snap if she was ever to be separated from him, even if it meant giving up beyblading. Deep in her heart, she loved him. But she could not concentrate on beyblading or their relationship due to all these problems happening to her.

She didn't want to tell anyone about it either, even though she wanted so desperately for someone to hear her cry of sorrow. If she told Terri, then she'll be too sympathetic and worry about her. Saber and Solo never had parents, so they probably wouldn't understand either. And Tyson. . . he'll probably be worried about her so much that he might lose his concentration in beyblading.

I'll have to figure this out on my own then, she decided. But time is running out, so I better make my decision soon. I just hope that whatever decision I make will benefit me in the end. . .

Her eyes finally closed as the clock's digital numbers turned to 2:00 am.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Come on, Lexis! You can do better than that, can't you?"

Dragoon slowed down as Jaguarah caught up with it.

"Now! JD Absorption!"

Two dummy beyblades which Lexis and Tyson had launched in to practice on were sucked into the huge hurricane attack Jaguarah and Dragoon had produced, and in a few seconds, were thrown back out onto the side of the battle dish.

"That should be enough." Tyson wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand.

"Do you think we should use this attack or the other one in battle first?" asked Lexis.

"I think we'll stick to DJ Destruction, and then we'll use the JD Absorption for backup," Tyson said.

"Alright."

Lexis and Tyson were practicing in the training room with the rest of their teammates. Terri and Max were going head to head with Saber and Ray while Solo and Kai were taking a break.

Kenny was going through his computer to find out if any, information on the teams who were considered the strongest in the tournament. But it was a near to impossible search, due to the fact that no team would be stupid enough to reveal their true power on the net, and most of the teams in the tournament were new or unheard of. The only team they knew were strong was Leslie's team, the Hellsings.

"It seems to me that most of the teams have never battled in the Teams Pairs Championships before, which is why they're unheard of," Kenny said, as Solo glanced at his laptop. Suddenly, a cell phone was heard ringing to the tune of "Meant To Live" by Switchfoot. Solo waited for 2 seconds before she slowly reached into her right pocket and pulled out an extremely small blue colored phone (not a flip phone, by the way). She pressed the green button on the left side which would allow a person to talk on the phone, and lifted the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

Kai watched her as Solo answered, "Alright. See you", then turn towards him. "I'll be right back."

Kai nodded. Solo exited the room as Kenny called in everyone for a brief break.

"Alright. I think that's enough training for now. After lunch, we'll resume the training. We only have a couple more days before the tournament, so don't slack off just yet."

"Say, this tournament is going to take longer than last time, isn't it?" asked Tyson.

"Yes it will," Kenny answered. "They're planning to either have two teams from Blocks A, B, C, and D battle a day or two teams from Blocks A, B battle one day and C, D the next. It's going to be extremely busy though, and if there are delays in the match ups or any sort of major mistakes, then this tournament will take even longer than estimated."

Saber sighed. _This is going to take much longer than I expected. Looks like I'll have to work a lot harder than ever. _

"Remember, all of you are defending your titles as champions of the last tournament, so be cautious in what you do," Kenny reminded them. "This is all based on teamwork. There IS no 'I' in this champion title, but 'we' as a team."

"Thanks Chief," Tyson said. "Glad you reminded all of us about that."

Terri and Max both nodded.

"Now, all of you should already have an idea of your battle strategies and attacks right?"

"Right," Ray answered.

"But we still need to work a battle sequence as to who will battle first, second, and third and who will stay as a backup," Kenny said.

"This is for the first match, right?" asked Lexis.

"Right. I have no clue which team we're going to battle first, so we'll have to be prepared for anything. Kai, what do you suggest?" Kai looked up in surprise.

"I really don't care. Until I confirm it with Solo, I'll like to stay as a back up, just in case one of you guys happened to lose. What about you Lexis?"

"Huh? Well. . . I really don't know." Lexis had been caught off guard. She was too busy thinking about how to concentrate on beyblading without losing her focus or getting distracted by her own problems. "I really don't mind who goes first. The decision's up to Kai."

Kai noticed the tone in her voice. "Okay then. For the first match, you and Tyson are going first."

"What?" Tyson said aloud. He was actually pretty surprised.

"You heard me. Tyson and Lexis are going first, then I want Max and Terri to go, and finally, Ray and Saber can wrap things up for us. Did everyone get that?"

"Yes."

"Alright then," Kenny said, typing into his laptop. "Remember, this is only for the first match. Tyson, you better remember to be on time, because if you're late for the first match, then we'll have to forfeit the match."

"Oh. And Tyson," Kai said. "There's one more thing you should know."

"What?"

"I'm not going to have other people substitute for your absence in the opening match."

_What?_ Lexis thought. _What is he thinking?_

"It's time to pull your self together, Tyson. You're almost a grown man now, so act like one."

"Hah! I'll show you what a much better blader I've become."

"Whatever."

Suddenly, the door creaked open. Turning to the direction of the door, everyone gasped.

It was Solo. She had returned. Standing right next to her was her older sister, Leslie. Behind the two were the rest of the members of the Hellsings, formerly known as the Howlers.

Leslie smiled as she saw the two teams walked towards them.

"Sorry I didn't tell you when I would be arriving. My plane got delayed."

As everyone walked towards each other, Kai observed each member of the Hellsings. Leslie, Solo's older sister, looked more mature than the last time he had seen her. She was just a few centimeters shorter than Solo, but she still had the red highlights in her black hair. She was dressed in a black V-necked sleeveless shirt with a chained necklace around her neck. She also wore black sports pants and black shoes.

Standing right behind Leslie were the twin sisters Gwen and Wen. The two still looked perfectly identical in appearances, even though they had on differently clothing. Kai couldn't even tell who was who. One of them had on a blue sports jacket, a white T-shirt, and black sports pants while the other wore a black sports jacket, a red sleeveless shirt and a pair of black jeans.

Beside one of the twins, was Rochelle. Being the second tallest in the entire team, she wore a long sleeved red shirt with the number 157 on the front across her chest and dark blue jeans. Rochelle's hair style changed just a bit. Instead of parting her short hair down the middle, she now parted it to one side and gelled it, so that it had a 'cooler' style to it (Think of Videl, from DragonBall Z when she had cut her hair short). Actually, the style suited her quite well and made her look prettier. Raven, who was standing next to Rochelle, was dressed in a black T-shirt on the outside with a long sleeved white shirt on the inside. She had on slim blue jeans with a beige belt around her waist. Her brown hair was still kept in a ponytail and she still had bangs. Raven, noticing Saber, glanced at her, and then waved when Saber saw her. Saber, surprised to see this from a former enemy, smiled and waved back.

Standing next to the other twin were Julie and Ruth. Julie was now the shortest in the entire team. Before it was Raven and Ruth who were the shortest, but now they had surpassed her height by a couple centimeters. Julie had now pierced her ears and was wearing a small of earrings. She wore a yellow and white striped T-shirt with the word "VOYAGE" across her chest and she wore a blue hooded zipper shirt over that. She had on a pair of light blue pants with many pockets on it and her short hair was now long. Ruth, who stood next to Julie, was wearing a hooded red sweatshirt with jeans rolled up at the bottom. Her hair was now layered and shorter than before.

Almost immediately, everyone started to talk. Just as they had started a conversation, Mr. Dickinson entered the room.

"Good morning, everyone. Ah, hello there. You must be the Hellsings, formerly known as the Howlers, right?"

"Hello Mr. Dickinson," Leslie greeted. "Yes, you're right. We are now known as the Hellsings."

_There is something different about this team than before, _Kai thought. _They've changed. They look a lot happier than they did before as a team. Must be because Howler is no longer controlling Leslie._

"We've already signed up for the tournament, and we should get some news as to which block we'll be competing in a few days," Raven explained to Mr. Dickinson.

"Say, Leslie? Did you ever get another bit-beast after Howler got destroyed?" asked Tyson.

"Actually, I did." Leslie smiled and reached into her pocket. She pulled out her red beyblade with black streaks on it and showed Tyson the bit-piece.

On the bit-piece, there was a picture of a phoenix which looked similar to how Howler had looked before. The only difference was that it was black with red streaks and markings, whereas Howler was completely red. Everything else about it looked almost identical to Howler.

"Um . . . isn't that almost identical to Howler?" asked Tyson. Everyone anime-sweat dropped. (--;)

"Yeah. But its name isn't Howler. Its name is Hellsing." Leslie smiled proudly. "It may not be as strong as Howler was, but Hellsing has made me proud."

"Then what say you and me go head to head?" Tyson grinned as he pulled out Dragoon and showed it to Leslie.

"Okay. I accept your challenge." Leslie walked towards one of the battle dishes and nodded towards Tyson. Tyson, grinning from ear-to-ear, eagerly walked over. Everyone else followed them and stood on both sides of the dish.

"Ready?" Tyson asked, as he put Dragoon onto his launcher. Leslie got into battle position.

"You bet." Raven walked in the middle between them.

"Alright then, 3. . . 2. . . 1. . . Let it Rip!" Raven lifted her hand, then threw it down as she said, "Let it Rip!"

"Hi-yaa!" Leslie released her beyblade.

"Go Dragoon!" The moment the two beyblades were released, they hit each other even before they landed and flew back down in the ring. Immediately, both blades circled around the battle dish, one chasing after the other.

Leslie stood still, watching her top tentatively. _Tyson may still look like an amateur, but I can see that his skills have improved and have matured. _

_She's gotten faster,_ Tyson thought in realization. _But I won't know how strong she's gotten now until I attack her! I should do that. . . . . . NOW!_ "Dragoon, attack!"

"Hellsing, don't let him near you!" But Dragoon was quicker. With one tiny tap, Dragoon knocked Hellsing back with ease and charged at it with full strength.

"Phantom Hurricane Atta- what? Where did she go?" Before Hellsing had been right in front of Dragoon, but now it was gone. Tyson looked around. _Shoot, where did Hellsing go?_ By the time Tyson realized what was happening, it was already too late.

CLANG!

Hellsing dropped right dead center on top of Dragoon, drilling it to the floor. Dragoon began to wobble.

"Hellsing, finish it!" With one clean jump, Hellsing leapt off Dragoon and landed on it again, this time with more force. Dragoon tipped to one side and spun on the floor, thrown off balance.

"No!" Tyson yelled. But already, Dragoon had stopped spinning. It just lay on the floor, wobbling from the impact of the attack. Hellsing however, circled around the ring once and flew back into Leslie's hand.

"That was pretty good for a warm up match," Leslie said as she put Hellsing in her pocket.

Tyson picked up Dragoon and inspected it. Luckily, Hellsing had done no damage to it.

"I underestimated you," he said in embarrassment. "But now, I know just how strong you've become and next time, you can be sure that I'm going to defeat you!" Tyson grinned at Leslie, a challenging look on his face. Leslie returned the smile.

"Don't worry. I'm looking forward to it. I can tell that you've improved greatly and is still is. But the next time we meet in the tournament, you can be sure that I will not go easy on you or Lexis." Leslie's black eyes flickered to Lexis' blue ones. Lexis stared back, unfocused.

_That's Lexis? _Leslie thought to herself. _She seems to have changed_, _even though she still looks the same. Wonder what's up with her? _

"We'd better get going," Ruth said. "We still have to train and time is running out. We hope to meet you in the finals."

"You can be sure we _will_ meet in the finals," Tyson assured her. Julie smiled as Rochelle fingered her hair.

"Raven, just you wait when Ray and I go at you again," Saber said. "This time, there ain't gonna be any stupid tie!"

"Oh hell no! Cause Rochelle and I are going to beat you again." Raven stuck out her tongue in a teasing way while Ray kept a firm hand on Saber's shoulder, so that she wouldn't do anything drastic. Meanwhile, Terri and Max were talking to Gwen and Wen. They were laughing at some joke Gwen had told them.

"Well, sis," Leslie said, turning to Solo. "Glad to see you again. We're going to check in our hotel now. Until then, train hard. Just call me if you want to ask me about anything." Leslie looked at Kai, and nodded towards him, as if to say "Thanks for looking after my sister". Kai stared at her, and then nodded back in return.

"I hope we'll be able to battle each other again," Julie said to Tyson as the Hellsings began started to bunch together again.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we will," he said, smiling.

"See you soon, Lexis," Ruth said as she started to walk to the door with the rest of the Hellsings. Lexis waved back, as Ruth and Julie waved at her. Then, the team left the room and the door closed.

"Well then, let's get back to practicing. That was more than enough of break," Kenny said.

"Yeah." Everyone went back to work.

"Come on, Lexis. We have to work harder to defeat Leslie," Tyson exclaimed excitedly as he smiled at Lexis. Lexis glanced at him with a confused look at first, and then smiled at him.

"Don't worry; we will grow stronger, as long as we have each other."

Even though she felt a bit better, deep inside her heart, she was still crying. . . crying for someone to help her to make the most difficult decision she has ever had to make. . .

Sorry I updated so late! I hope u enjoyed this chapter! I'm sorry if it was sort of confusing! Please give me some feedback by reviewing and telling me what to improve on!! Thanks!! I'll try to update earlier!!

Zero2-the-scyther


	8. Conflict

One True Team: Forever

-Hope you will enjoy reading this chapter! Sorry if this update is super late. . . just like all my other ones. . . argh. . . working on it!! Please read and give me some feedback as to how I can improve my story! Thanks for all those who have reviewed my story! )

Enjoy!

"Oh man! Can't believe the tournament begins tomorrow! Ai-ya," Saber sighed as she leaned back into the couch she shared with Ray. The two teams were completely exhausted from training and had gone up to the room to relax. It was 2 in the afternoon. They had spent the previous days training and practicing vigorously. Almost everyone had beyblades on the mind at all times. The Wildcats and the Bladebreakers hardly wasted time eating (Tyson sadly gave up on convincing everyone that they should have a longer lunch break), taking breaks, or hanging out.

"I have to agree with you. It's been pretty stressful these few days," Ray agreed.

"Well duh! We haven't exactly relaxed ever since Leslie and the Hellsings showed up," Max laughed.

"I wonder just how much stronger everyone else has become in the Hellsings," Terri wondered aloud.

"Beats me," Saber muttered as she stared at the TV screen. The animated Disney movie "Finding Nemo" was playing on the movie channel. It was pretty good, but none of the four friends could enjoy it in peace. Everyone was too tense about the tournament, even though it was only a day away.

Meanwhile, Lexis and Tyson were with Kenny inside the guys' room. Kenny was explaining to Lexis and Tyson about some beyblade attack ring he had customized. He had noticed that Dragoon had been missing out on some of its attacks due to a weak attack ring and had especially fixed up a new one for Tyson. He also helped fix up Lexis' Jaguarah by giving it a tune up.

"Oh wow man!" Tyson said in awe as he checked out Kenny's updates. "Thanks Kenny! This attack ring you replaced improved Dragoon's rotation spin, as well as increasing the power of the attack."

"Thanks Chief," Lexis said, as she turned Jaguarah around in her hands, inspecting every angle of it. "I'm impressed at how well your handiwork is."

"Aw shucks," Kenny murmured, blushing at the compliments. "It was all for the team."

As for Kai and Solo, those two were taking a walk by themselves around the hotel. They were walking in the hall where the training room could be seen from above in a window.

Solo walked up to the window, and looked down towards the training room. Some kids were there, practicing. Others were just playing one-on-one battles.

"Solo," Kai said.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know if you've noticed this, but, is there something wrong with Lexis?" he asked slowly and calmly. Solo looked at the glass window, peering at her reflection and saw Kai's face peering at her from behind. She sighed.

"You too huh?" she said, her hand touching the window. "I don't know what's wrong with her, but . . . she's been like this for almost 3 months now." Kai made no response as he digested this information.

"Kai." Solo turned around to face him. "There's something going on with her that she won't tell us," she whispered. "I can tell that she's struggling with something, and Terri's asked her once or twice already, but she won't tell her anything."

"You're worried?" he asked. This was not like Solo at all. Sure she was always checking up to see how her friends were, but to be _this_ worried over Lexis?

Solo stepped out and put her arms around him. He embraced her by putting his arms around her. He could smell the sweet smell of shampoo in her hair.

"Thanks," she murmured, her chin resting on top of his shoulder. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"I just hope that, whatever's going on with Lexis, that she'll be alright."

Kai did not say anything. Instead, he thought of the possibilities of them winning the championships again. Before, their chances seemed to be greater. Now, their chances were almost gone.

_We cannot win if our team continues to drag on like this_, he realized. _Unless Lexis gets her act together, there may be no way we can possibly succeed in our goal._

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"Lexis! Are you listening to me?"

"What? Huh? OH. Yes, I am."

"You need to decrease your power when you get sucked into Dragoon's hurricane, otherwise you won't have enough ammo to attack the opponents with," Tyson reminded her, as he stared at her. Tyson, Lexis, Max and Terri had gone back downstairs to train.

"I know that," Lexis answered back quickly. "But it takes a lot of steady power and stamina just to stay in the hurricane without being thrown back out."

"Well, then you'll just have to work harder," Tyson stated.

"Believe me Tyson, I'm doing everything I can," Lexis grumbled. She picked up her beyblade in frustration and launched it once again into the battle dish. Dragoon joined Jaguarah and pulled it in with its hurricane attack.

_Concentrate_, Lexis reminded herself. _Concentrate hard-_

_"Mother—"_

_Concentrate. _

_"Your father and I have tried to keep you happy, but we cannot be happy within each other's presence—" _

_C-concentrate. . ._

"_I know this is hard on you, but you must accept this—"_

_C. . .concentrate— Crap man, how can I possibly accept this? Answer me!_

_"Please forgive us for putting you in this position—"_

_How can I?! Answer me! How can I possibly be happy? How can I possibly think cheerfully? _

_"— stay strong—"_

_HOW CAN I?! HOW CAN I POSSIBLY STAY STRONG WHEN EVERYTHING AROUND ME IS BEING SHATTERED? **ANSWER ME!! WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME—**_

"LEXIS! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Lexis opened her glistening eyes, shocked to find that Jaguarah was breaking out of the tornado with its claws and ferociously tearing at Dragoon. She, out of all people, had actually lost control of her bit-beast due to her frustration. Shocked, her senses quickly reverted back to reality.

"Jaguarah! STOP!" Immediately, the bit-beast obeyed its master and disappeared back into its beyblade. Lexis panted breathlessly. It was then did she notice that she was sweating and out of breath. Tyson whirled around to look at her.

"Hey! Didn't I just say not to increase the power of Jaguarah? Huh?"

Lexis didn't respond. Instead, she tried to stop panting, but she could hear her heart beating very loudly and quickly. Right next to where Tyson and Lexis were, Terri and Max had turned around from their training, wondering what was going on. Kenny simply remained quiet from where he was sitting.

"Lexis?" Tyson said again, this time in a calmer voice.

"I know! I know! I heard you the first time," Lexis answered loudly, as she put a hand to her head. "I just. . ."

"Then how come Jaguarah's power increased by at least two times before? Anymore powerful, and I'll say Dragoon could have been seriously damaged," Tyson pointed out.

"I—I just couldn't . . . couldn't concentrate. . ."

"Today's the last day we get to train before the tournament--"

"_I KNOW THAT, DAMMIT_!"

The whole room remained deadly quiet. Tyson, speechless to hear the words coming out of Lexis' mouth, looked shocked as he stared at Lexis. He obviously hadn't been expecting this from the Lexis he knew so well. Terri put a hand to her mouth while Max couldn't believe what had just happened. Everyone was shocked and surprised. Lexis, still panting, arched her brow for a moment. Then finally, realizing what she had done, trembled. Her eyes started to tear and her face collapsed from its angry expression to an upset look.

Biting her bottom lip, Lexis tore away from Tyson and the rest of her friends and ran towards the door.

"Lexis, wait!" Tyson called after her. Lexis almost ran right into Saber, who was entering into the room with Ray right behind her the same time Lexis was exiting. Saber quickly leaned against the opened door and made way for Lexis as she ran outside and disappeared down the hallway. Lexis didn't even notice that she had left Jaguarah behind.

"LEXIS!" Tyson shouted again. But the only thing he could hear was her footsteps. Upset at what had just happened, Tyson started towards the door as well, but stopped when Max yelled, "Tyson. Why don't you just leave her alone for a bit? She needs to calm down."

"But she's upset—"

"I know, bud," Max agreed. "But she needs some time alone to think over what had just happened. The girl's freaked out by what just happened, you know?" Tyson sighed in defeat, and stopped in his place. Jaguarah slowly stopped spinning and toppled on its side with a loud CLANG.

"Lexis," Terri whispered.

"Yo! What was all that about? What's up with Lexis?" asked Saber as she and Ray reluctantly closed the door.

"I don't know what happened!" Tyson said in frustration. "We were doing okay this morning, and then while you guys went outside for a break, we were just working on the DJ Destruction technique. It was really hard to synchronize them in perfection, so we were working on that, since tomorrow is the tournament. We were trying to balance out our powers, but Jaguarah was too powerful and it kept throwing Dragoon off balance. So I told Lexis to lower Jaguarah's power and then, when we tried out the technique again, it was okay at first. However, half way through, Jaguarah suddenly became more and more powerful. It was frantically getting agitated more and more each second and finally, it began to go out of control. It was trying to bite Dragoon and fight it or something. I look onto Lexis and all I see is her with her eyes closed, looking as if she's frustrated. I yell at her and then she realizes all of a sudden that she's lost control of her own bit-beast while her eyes were closed. By the time she calmed it down, I was asking her why she didn't decrease its power cause today IS the last day of training before the tournament begins. She nearly bites off my head by yelling at me and runs out of the room! ARGH! I don't believe this!" Tyson slammed his fists down onto the floor, panting in anger.

Saber and Terri stared at each other. Ray walked forward and knelt next to Tyson.

"Tyson, I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding, but have you considered the fact that you may have been pushing Lexis around because of this tournament?"

Tyson didn't respond, but Ray knew he could hear him.

"I know that we've got a tournament tomorrow and I know just how badly you want to hold onto our title, because I do too. But you should slow down a bit. If you go too fast a pace with training, you'll only end up bossing people around and that will get us no where."

"Okay! So maybe I HAVE been a little stressed out lately because we were behind in our training, but why is she still biting my head off? Look, Ray," Tyson said, as he got into a sitting position. "I'm only trying to do my best, and I'm willing to accept the fact that I MAY have been bossing people around just too much, but . . ." He took off his baseball cap and fiddled around with it. "But what is wrong with Lexis?" he asked quietly. "She's always feeling down and she can't seem to focus on beyblading these few days. How am I supposed to work with that?"

The room stayed quiet. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop from one end of the room to the other end.

"Why don't we take a break?" Kenny finally spoke up.

"Yeah, that'll be great," Max said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Saber, I'm going to try to find and talk to Lexis, okay?" Terri told her friend.

"Alright," Saber answered. "Come back soon."

Terri nodded, then quickly walked to the exit doors and left the room. Saber sighed, looking down at her shoes. Things were not going well at all. The pressure of keeping a championship title as a team was already enough to make them uneasy, but to have a conflict with Lexis just made matters worse – much worse.

Lexis sat in her bed, feeling miserable and upset. First, there was the problem about her mother and father wanting her to make a decision that could very well destroy who she is now. Then there was all the pressure of keeping up with school work and passing. The additional pressure of keeping a championship title as a team made her concentration worse. And now, just moments ago, she had actually lost control of Jaguarah.

She wasn't sure how it happened, but it did. One moment ago she was in control of everything. The next she loses her concentration and unconsciously overpowers Jaguarah with her anger instead of focusing on the beyblade itself.

The worse problem of all was the fact that she had actually yelled and swore at Tyson.

She couldn't help it, for she was so frustrated, and took out her anger on him before she could stop herself. Drawing her knees to herself, Lexis buried her head into them and drew her arms around her knees. She heard the door open and close. Someone's footsteps sounded nearer as they walked closer towards their room. She heard their door open and someone come in.

"Lexis?" It was Terri's voice.

". . . . . ."

"Lexis, are you okay?"

She shook her head. Terri walked towards her and sat next to her on the bed. Lexis didn't raise her head.

"What's wrong?"

Lexis didn't respond. Terri sighed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Everything's wrong," Lexis murmured. She finally raised her head up, her hair covering part of her face. Terri waited patiently as Lexis drew a hand and brushed back her hair from her face.

"You saw what happened, didn't you?" Lexis said aloud. "In fact, everyone in that room saw what happened. I lost control of Jaguarah. I was trying to decrease its power, but I couldn't concentrate on it. I was . . . I was so frustrated today cause of something my mom told me and I just . . . I couldn't control myself-" Lexis' voice broke as the tears finally flowed. Terri put an arm around her best friend's shaking shoulders as she watched her sob quietly. "I-I didn't m-mean to y-yell at Tyson like that! You have n-no clue how hard I was trying to c-concentrate. But it's j-just too much right now. And to h-have the additional pressure of keeping the ch-championship t-title as a t-team, I just c-couldn't handle it-t."

"It's okay," Terri soothed her. "Everyone gets stressed once in a while. You're no different."

"I don't want to lose T-tyson! I r-really d-don . . . And I don't w-want to l-l-lose J-Jaguarah either . . ." Lexis covered her face with her two hands as her body heaved with her choking sobs. Terri had never before seen or heard Lexis cry since she had first met her.

"Shh," Terri whispered. The room stayed quiet for a moment. The only sound was Lexis' sobs. Terri kept a firm grip around Lexis' shoulders. Slowly, Lexis' sobs grew calmer as time passed. Terri handed her a box of tissue, which she grabbed at and blew her nose. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and stayed quiet. Terri glanced at her exhausted and extremely stressed out friend.

"When you left the room, Tyson tried to call you back. He knows just how much everyone wants to keep the title and he also confessed about how he'd been pushing you around just a little bit too much these few days because of that. But, he's very worried about you because you didn't seem to be very happy these days.

_He's worried about me? _

"What I'm saying is if something's been bothering you these few days, you should tell him. It can decrease your stress and he may be able to help you. Even if he can't, at least you can have some comfort or support."

"Well, the only thing that's bothering me right now is what I've just said to him moments ago."

"Then apologise to him."

"But what if he hates me now, because of what I did?"

"Lexis, you can't tell for sure until you've actually asked him about it. Now, come on." Terri got off the bed and extended her hand towards Lexis. Lexis looked at her reluctantly for a moment, then grabbed her hand and got off the bed as well.

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Tyson drank the last of his Coke. He had been sitting at the hotel café for almost half an hour now by himself. Max was trying to figure with Kenny how they could improve Draciel's endurance but at the same time improve the defence ring without throwing it off balance. They were still inside the training room. Saber and Ray, who just had a break, were training and practicing their duo combat techniques. Kai and Solo had not returned yet.

_Does Lexis hate me? Is it cause I've been pushing her too much these days, or is it because she's lost interest in me all together? _Tyson debated with himself.

He stared at Jaguarah, whom he had picked up after Lexis had fled from the training room and stared at it. It was a very fine beyblade indeed. Thanks to Kenny's updates, it was almost shining proudly. But it looked most awkward in Tyson's possession.

Tyson took out Dragoon and held one beyblade in each hand. Staring at each one closely, he put them close together and observed them. The eyes of the bit-beasts on the bit-piece almost seemed to somehow rather, glow, as if they had longed to be together.

_If Dragoon and Jaguarah can work together once again as bit-beasts, then why can't Lexis and I do the same? What had occurred in the practice room may just have been from all the stress. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we can't work together again . . . just like before. _

Jaguarah stared back at him as he looked into its eyes.

"You miss your master, don't you?" Tyson whispered awkwardly to the bit-beast. It, of course, didn't respond to him, but Tyson could feel that it indeed _was_ missing its master. "Well, I don't know about you, but I miss her too," Tyson continued on. "You're the only person, or um . . . thing, who knows what's going on with her. You probably can't tell me in words what's going on with Lexis, but whatever it is, please guide her and watch over her." In his mind, Tyson could hear the roar of the jaguar bit-beast as he stared at its bit-piece.

"Tyson."

Turning around, Tyson's heart skipped a beat when he saw that it was Lexis who was standing a metre away from him. Her eyes were red and her hair was slightly messy.

"L-Lexis?" Tyson managed to say. She looked at him with those navy blue eyes and for a moment, neither one spoke. Tyson could not tear his eyes away from her tear-stained ones. It was almost as if time itself had stood still all of a sudden. Their surroundings suddenly seemed blurred and far away. Lexis' hands, which were clasped in front of her, tightened.

"Tyson," she started again. "I'm . . . I'm sorry for what happened. It will _never _happen again. I just hope . . . hope that you will accept my apology and that you will . . . not look down on me because of what had happened –" She was caught off guard when Tyson suddenly rushed forward and embraced her in a tight hug. Lexis, overwhelmed by his sudden action, bit her bottom lip as it started to tremble. She could only stand as Tyson spoke quietly next to her ear.

"Lexis," Tyson whispered. "I want you to know . . . that I'll never look down on you . . . because I love you. To tell you the truth, I'm very worried about you. I'm worried about why you seem to be so sad lately. I thought at first that . . . that it was because you didn't like me anymore—"

"Tyson, what possibly made you think of such a thing?" Lexis asked, her voice cracking with emotion. "I never hated you! I just . . . it's just that . . . al-lot of bad things have b-been hap-penning to me f-for the last f-f-f-few months. I – I—"

She couldn't go on anymore. Her body shook with heaving sobs as she laid her head on Tyson's shoulder. Tyson soothed her and place one hand on her back while wrapping the other one around her waist.

"Shhh," he comforted her, trying to calm her down. "It's okay now. I'm here for you. I . . . I'm sorry for pushing you around so much these days, Lexis. I . . . I guess this tournament's just gotten to my brain, that's all."

"Tyson, I'll train harder. I'll c-concentrate MUCH harder t-t-this time round. You had n-no idea how hard I w-was trying to focus today. But I nearly attacked your own bit-beast because I couldn't concentrate!"

"Don't worry. We'll grow stronger together. You and I, and Dragoon and Jaguarah. Just, tell me what's troubling you, please."

_I can't tell Tyson what Mother told me, not yet. But—_

She lifted her wet face from Tyson's shoulder and blew her nose with a piece of Kleenex. Her voice was more steady this time.

"Tyson, if you really must know, then I'll tell you this: I'm failing in school."

"W-what?"

"Tyson, please don't tell anyone about this, not even the Wildcats. I don't want them to worry. For the last few months, ever since I failed my science project, I have not been doing very well in any of my studies. The only one I can actually keep up with currently is English. Everything else, I'm either getting low 60's or just below 50. I . . . I've just lost confidence in myself all of a sudden. It had to do with some other stuff happening but, I just couldn't focus on studying. The same thing happened again when we were beyblading today. I'm sorry if I'd let you down in anyway. If you-"

"You're failing school?" Tyson repeated. Lexis nodded sadly.

"But then, how are you going to keep up with your studies? And yet, you still took the time to come here-"

"I came only because I missed beyblading with my team mates and I missed beyblading with YOU." Lexis noticed suddenly that Jaguarah was lying on the table next to Dragoon. "Jaguarah!"

"Huh? Oh yeah, you'd forgotten it when you left the room. Luckily, no damage was done." Tyson looked worriedly at Lexis again, who stared back at him.

"Don't worry. I have you, so there's nothing to worry about. I'll work harder in my coming term and I'll probably have to take extra classes to keep up."

"You know, you can always ask me for help," Tyson said.

"I will. But I just don't want to worry you."

"No. When you need help, you should ask for it. Now c'mon. Let's get back in there and train! Tomorrow's the tournament and whether or not we win the first match, we have to be stronger as a team."

"Yeah! Thanks, Tyson." Lexis placed one hand on his cheek and kissed him full on the lips. Tyson responded by returning the kiss and wrapping his arms around her. A nearby waiter smiled at the now happy couple.

"Now, let's go!" With that, Tyson picked up Dragoon in one hand and in the other, took Lexis' hand as the two ran out of the café and down to the training room.

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Hoped you enjoyed this chapter! I'm sorry if it was disappointing! Please review after and tell me what can be done to improve my story! I will update faster next time!!!!

Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter again!

Zero2-the-scyther


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